Legacy of Force
by cobalt-blue
Summary: The Enterprise is sent to the Gamma Quadrant to find a lost Earth Colony from before the Eugenics Wars. Will Picard and crew be able to forge an alliance with an Empire that's been at war with the Dominion for almost 200 years?
1. Chapter 1

Author's Note: This is an AU Star Trek Universe with several of the following changes:

_Star Trek: First Contact_ did not happen. That was the most fucked up story Berman ever tried to pass off. It violated several things established in the Original Series and just plain sucked. Instead, I'm using what was established in "_Strangers From the Sky_" as the first contact Earth had with the Vulcans.

I am drawing heavily from Diane Duane's _Rihansu_ series and merging it with _Star Trek: Nemesis_. It's sort of rough, but will work.

I'm also borrowing heavily from _The Vulcan Academy Murders, Spock's World, Final Frontier _(the novel) as well as _Star Trek Phase II_.

The other stuff is based on an online game I ran with this story line. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

USS Enterprise NCC-1701E in orbit around Earth.

Captain Jean Luc Picard sat rather uneasily in his ready room as he was going over the files Admiral Shir' Khar had sent him. To be honest, he was floored by what they implied about the Federation in general and Earth in particular. There was a whole history of the Eugenics Wars that had been covered up by Earth's various governments, and then a great deal was lost to the coming World War III.

Only after the events of the Dominion War was this history coming to light, and frankly it was almost unbelievable. But believe he was forced to do, and not only believe; now he had the whole resolution to the mess dropped into his lap. He leaned back in his chair and looked over at the Admiral, and sighed. "Frankly Admiral, it's a lot to absorb. How did this information finally come to light?"

The red-haired woman fixed him with an emerald green stare and Picard suddenly felt like a school boy who'd just asked a naughty question. The sheer force of this woman's personality filled the room like a vibrating harp string. She was a legend in Starfleet and damn near responsible for the Grand Alliance having never happened. Her vulcanoid features gave her an aquiline appearance that only managed to enhance her natural beauty- even at well over a hundred and fifty years old.

She'd served with distinction throughout an almost hundred year career, that was legendary for its daring do. Unlike many captains who absorbed their ship's reputation, Shir' Khar carried hers with her from ship to ship- from the _Constellation II_, to the _Krieger_, to the eventually the dreadnaught _Alliance_, and finally to the _Einstein_. Not only was her commands highly sought after by crew and officers alike, but her crews had a reputation for not only snatching victory from the jaws of defeat, but for then beating defeat about the head and shoulders with it.

"Because the individuals involved in the situation did not want their existence known until now. I believe that had the Dominion not threatened Earth itself, that their history would not have come to light at this time," she told him. "Keep in mind, we are talking about beings that although not quite on the same evolutionary scale as the Metrons, and the Excalbians, they are still considerably higher than present day Federation races."

"And they left the Earth just before the Eugenics Wars?" Picard asked. He was a student of history, and even an amateur archeologist, but his interest tended to be more focused on ancient star-faring races who might have been responsible for seeding the galaxy. "Where did they get the technology?"

"We're unsure of that. The Vulcans had star drive hundreds of years before Earth; so did the Romulans," Shir' Khar told him. Again, Picard wondered about the mystery of her origins. She referred to the Vulcans in third person and of Earth almost as home. "But not on the level that would allow them to end up in the Gamma Quadrant."

"Exactly what brought these people to light?" Picard asked. "I mean what did they do to suddenly reveal their existence, and how did we find out about the governmental cover-up?"

Shir' Khar smiled and leaned back in her chair as she sipped the cup of coffee provided by the _Enterprise_s' replicators. "When the Dominion was bearing down on Earth, it seemed that several of them transported aboard the Jem' hadar and Breen attack ships- _through their shields_- and brought their Vorta commanders back to Starbase 1 with them. Several of them took control of Dominion ships and turned them on the other members of their fleet. To be honest with you, had it not been for their interference, there is a good chance that Earth would have been occupied like Betazed. Their physical and psychic prowess was extremely impressive- like seen nothing I've seen since Excalbia. "

Picard listened to the Admiral's explanation as he absorbed it all. "How did the cover up come to light though?" he asked.

This time the woman actually chuckled and said, "A young graduate student at a small Appalachian University was digging through some recently discovered archives from the old Pentagon and MI-6 files and came across it in his research. The volume of data was immense and when the documents were authenticated, his doctorate was pretty much assured. "

"So, the Augments were really originally designed by the UN in an attempt to deal with these so-called Enhancers?" Picard asked.

"Exactly," she told him. "Evidently, the Eugenics war was originally meant to be round two of what was at the time called the Enhancer Wars. The information from that period of history is very sketchy, but what we are getting out of those archives is that the UN of the late twentieth and early twenty-first century was not a very nice organization. They had fallen under the control of an unholy alliance of a radical religious sect and several totalitarian regimes. They tried to seize control of the Enhancers and use them as some kind of super-army to pacify the rest of the world."

"When the Enhancers of the Anglo-Israeli Alliance managed to finally defeat the UN's strike-forces and beat them back to the Re-Education Camps in Riyadh, the UN turned to genetic augmentations in an attempt to regain power. Evidently the Enhancers were unwilling to escalate the fight to the point that the planet was threatened, so they gathered their forces, and their technology and left. Their last transmission before they warped out of the system said that they would meet our children in the stars."

"And since nature abhors a vacuum, the Augments seized control and set off the Eugenics War," Picard finished the recap.

"But why are we just only finding out about it?" Picard asked.

"Because, evidently they left on the eve of Eugenics War and when they did, they set off some kind of computer bomb designed to infiltrate the databases of every network on the planet and purge it of any data on them. What little information survived the Eugenics War and the subsequent World War III, was ordered sealed by Earth's first Global president, President Stryker."

Picard leaned back and considered what he'd heard. That sounded like the kind of thing Stryker would do in order to protect the fledgling government. He was the man who'd met with Colonel Green and managed to turn the madman's own tactics against him. Before the negotiations were over Stryker had killed Green in personal combat, and finally brought peace to the war-torn planet. Not long after that, the UNS Amity had rescued a damaged Vulcan scout ship out near the Kyper Belt and Earth's first steps toward forging the Federation had been taken.

"And now we think we have identified where these Enhancers went?" it was as much of a question as a statement. Picard now understood why the _Enterprise_ had been moved up in its refit with the new transwarp engines. "You want _Enterprise_ to go to the Gamma Quadrant and find them?"

"Actually Starfleet Intelligence think they've found them already. They call themselves the Transentient Empire and they've been at war with the Dominion for almost two hundred years. We want you to make first contact with them. We want you to see if we can reach a mutually beneficial treaty with them."

It was Picard's turn to be surprised, "A government than can remain on a war footing with the Dominion for two centuries would be a formidable force in the galaxy."

Shir' Khar nodded, "Exactly." She leaned forward and said, "To be honest with you Captain, the Federation can't afford any more enemies. We need friends and allies. Starfleet is having to restructure itself to something more akin to what it was a hundred years ago. We can't afford the kinder, gentler, exploratory force that has prevailed for the last fifty years or so. We need captains who can not only be diplomats, and explorers, but military commanders as well. I think you're one of those Captain Picard, and that's why I have given you this mission."

Picard nodded. He had been expecting this for years, and somehow he knew that he'd eventually be eating his words to Ambassador Spock. The galactic situation had deteriorated over the past few decades, to where "cowboy diplomacy" had once again become not only acceptable, but necessary at times. He got the feeling that he would eventually be borrowing heavily from that era's _Enterprise_'s tactics before his career was over. "What do we know about this Transentient Empire?" he asked. He was uncomfortable with the concept of an empire, especially one with its roots in Earth history.

"We know that they have been at war with the Dominion for almost two centuries, we know that they are willing to talk to us albeit somewhat reluctantly, we know that they were recently attacked by a huge Dominion force at their Saexa System." She leaned forward and put her cup down. "We also know that they've had observers on Earth since they left waiting for us to come to them. There is some concern that they may have infiltrated Starfleet Intelligence, but we can't be sure, so much of the intel I can give you may be compromised."

"Reluctantly?"

"According to our sources, the Empire is concerned over several Federation policies, but we are unclear as to which ones. That is something we need you to find out about."

Picard mulled over what he'd heard. There were some gaping holes in the information and that concerned him a great deal. If he was going to take his ship deep into the Gamma Quadrant, he wanted to have as much information as he possibly could. Although the new engines, shields, and sensors had been rigorously tested and had come through the two month shake-down cruise with flying colors, their application was still a whole new area of contemplation. Add to this, making contact with a race that was at a higher technological and evolutionary stage to the Federation was always difficult and dangerous.

"What about my missing crew?" he asked. The shake-down cruise had been conducted without the benefit of a first officer, and a ship's counselor. "When will I be getting my new Number 1, and ship's counselor?"

Shir' Khar nodded to him. "You will be picking both of them up at DS-9 before you jump off into the Gamma Quadrant, as well as your new Chief of Security, Commander Tuvok."

"Might I inquire as to the identities of my new first officer and counselor?" he asked. Starfleet had been uncharacteristically closed-mouthed about at least two of his new crew members. Every inquiry had been met with a stonewall of silence. He was under the impression that some kind of political game was being played, and he wasn't sure that he liked that.

She leaned back again and said, "I'm sorry about the silence you've been receiving on the subject. I was as unhappy about it as you are. Fleet Admiral Hayes at Starbase 1 has been rather adamant about who you get as an XO, and she's been keeping things stirred up. Your new ship's counselor is Dr. Brendet Jarn from Betazed. He's a psychiatrist as well as a rather talented telepath, about the best that Betazed has to offer."

"And my first?" Picard asked.

"Commander Robin Greenbough," she told him.

"The XO at Starbase 1?" he asked. The man was a genuine war hero. He'd single handedly led the defensive force into combat against the invading Jem' hadar when they tried to board Starbase 1. He'd managed to infiltrate behind their lines and kill several Vorta, Breen, and Jem' hadar commanders before the war was finally won.

"The same," she told him. "Hayes wants to fast track him toward a captaincy."

"I take it you disagree," Picard asked.

Shir' Khar nodded. "Not only do I disagree, but the man himself disagrees. But Hayes feels that Starfleet owes him, and won't take no for an answer."

"Starfleet owes him?" Jean Luc asked.

"Look at his service file. He was a casualty of Sevrin's, attempt to discover the planet Eden. The _Aurora_ belonged to his family, and when it was destroyed he lost his parents and his twin brother. The only reason he survived was that his father had over-clocked the escape pod and shoved him into it."

"That was over a hundred years ago, Admiral," Jean Luc protested. He'd have to be well past the age to serve.

"That pod spent almost that much time a high velocity sub-light speed before it was discovered by the _USS Entente_ and he was rescued. What was ninety-four years to us were only several weeks to him. He's had quite a bit of adapting to do, not the least of which was Earth's government seizing his family's assets in the Equal Resources Act of 2335," Shir' Khar told him.

Jean Luc considered that. This was a man who was born into to one century and literally transported to the next by an unfortunate series of events. "And Commander Greenbough does not agree with the posting?"

"He doesn't agree with the reasons for the posting. He doesn't want to leap-frog over other more deserving officers, but he really has no choice in the matter." She sipped her coffee, and then continued, "He really is a good man, just one out of place, and caught in difficult circumstances. I would appreciate it if you tried not to hold it against him."

Jean Luc nodded and smiled. He understood what it was like when the brass upstairs started playing politics with your career. The whole mess with offering him the Commandant of Starfleet Command was a first-hand example of that. "I understand, Admiral. Maybe together we can find a way around the situation for him."

"I also put in for a flight control officer," Picard asked. "Please tell me that one's not going to be difficult."

"Depends on your definition of difficult, Captain," she told him. "She's a recent graduate of the Academy and has top marks."

"There was an unspoken, however, in that sentence, Admiral," Picard told her.

"One of her parent's is an Admiral and the other an Ambassador of your acquaintance," she replied.

"I don't understand," Jean Luc said.

"Her name is Ensign T'Lear. Her mother is Admiral Saavik. Her father is Ambassador Spock."

"I see," Picard replied, "and her great grandfather was Ambassador Sarek. I really don't see that as being too much of a difficulty. Her family has a certain reputation for honesty and integrity. I don't think it will be any problem."

"You are braver than some. Many captains don't like having the offspring of flag officers on their ships. They think it creates political difficulties," she told him. "I've been there, and have experienced it. However, at the same time, I've found that usually the difficulties are exaggerated."

Picard chuckled, "As have I Admiral." He smiled and offered to refill her cup.

She shook her head, and held up a hand. "No thanks."

"Are there any more miracles you want me to pull off while out in the Gamma Quadrant?"

Shir' Khar leaned back and nodded, "We are interested in any intelligence you can gather on the Dominion's actual strength over there. We know we have dealt them a serious blow, they wouldn't have agreed to let the Alpha Quadrant powers explore that area under any other circumstances. We would like to know just how much of a threat they still are."

Jean Luc smiled and added, "And if we can pull off an alliance with this Transentient Empire, then so much the better."

"Exactly," she said. "Oh, and one other thing."

"Yes?" Picard asked warily.

"I'd like to leave Dr. Seizemore on your ship for the duration. She's requested it, and I thought it might be a good idea. She is after all the developer of the transwarp engines and if there is a problem, she'd be the most likely to help. It's up to you however. She'd mainly be a technical advisor on imperial technology."

Jean Luc considered the request. It was logical, and in reality, Lt. Commander La Forge could use the extra help in monitoring the new engines, and the possible applications of the new technology was still being explored. On a personal level, the woman was somewhat eccentric, but was a very good engineer and got along well with the crew. "I would be glad to have her Admiral," he told his commanding officer. "I think I will need all the extra eyes and ears I can get in the Gamma Quadrant."


	2. Medical Value of a Good Fight

Author's Note: This is an AU Star Trek Universe with several of the following changes:

_Star Trek: First Contact_ did not happen. That was the most fucked up story Berman ever tried to pass off. It violated several things established in the Original Series and just plain sucked. Instead, I'm using what was established in "_Strangers From the Sky_" as the first contact Earth had with the Vulcans.

I am drawing heavily from Diane Duane's _Rihansu_ series and merging it with _Star Trek: Nemesis_. It's sort of rough, but will work.

I'm also borrowing heavily from _The Vulcan Academy Murders, Spock's World, Final Frontier _(the novel) as well as _Star Trek Phase II_.

The other stuff is based on an online game I ran with this story line. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

I wonder if anyone gets the nod to another of my fanfiction stories in this chapter.

**Enterprise Ship's Lounge: 17:00 ship time**

Beverly Crusher entered the Officer's Lounge, now called the _Leading Edge_, and looked around. It had been a difficult day and she felt the need to relax. The brass upstairs had been pressuring her to return to Earth as head of Starfleet Medical, and only the importance of this mission had given her the impetus to not take them up on it. On top of that, she was beginning to feel lonely again. Wesley had returned to Starfleet, but was now assigned to the _Titan_ as part of her engineering command, and of course Deanna had joined Will aboard that same ship. That, along with Data's death had left her pretty much bereft of regular companions. Even Worf was now gone from Starfleet to act as the Federation Ambassador to Klinzai. She realized that she'd spent almost two years without a regular group of companions for social interaction.

Looking around the lounge she smiled and nodded to Guinan as she searched for a friendly face. Strangely enough she found it in the form of a short red-headed woman who seemed to be trying to bore a hole through a padd with her eyes. Dr. McKenzie Seizemore had been assigned to the _Enterprise_ on this mission as a technical advisor in areas of possible Transentient Imperial technology. Beverly walked over to the table and said, "Somehow I don't think that staring at the padd will make it change its read-out."

"Changing its readout isn't what I'm looking for," the small woman said without looking up. "For it to make sense is however a different story." She put the padd down and looked up at Beverly, "But I'll get it to, eventually. I always do." Then smiling, she said "Hello, Beverly. Want to join me for dinner?"

Beverly grinned and sat down, "I thought you'd never ask."

"Bad day?" Mick asked as she nodded toward Guinan as the barkeep made her way over to the table.

"Just long," Beverly told her. "I've been reviewing the medical records for our new crew that we're picking up tomorrow at DS-9."

Mick smiled at her and said, "Sounds like the kind of thing you would use on a night you can't sleep."

Beverly nodded and said, "Most of it is." Of course patient client privacy wouldn't let her address her own concerns. Mainly that their new flight control officer was too damn young to be heading into deep space. What was fleet command thinking about that one? The girl hadn't even reached sexual maturity yet. Then there was the long list of fleet waivers for Commander Greenbough for a higher than usual muscle to mass ratio of his body.

"But not all?" Guinan asked from her side. "What can I get you ladies?"

Beverly nodded and smiled, "Not , all," she said. "I'll have that almond Ktarian chicken salad you were bragging about the other day, and a cup of coffee."

Mick smiled over at the other woman and said, "Twelve ounce sirloin, rare, baked potato with a little bit of butter and enough sour cream to float a dreadnaught, a Caesar salad, and a glass of southern iced tea."

Beverly chuckled and teased the woman, "How do you keep that kind of figure and eat like that?"

Mick smiled at her and replied, "A high metabolism. My brother used to accuse of me of being a caffeine addict, but in reality, I'm just generally hyperactive. I usually put in an eighteen hour work day, and sometimes I forget to eat." She leaned back and took a cup of coffee from the table and sipped it. "That's why I can eat like a teenager and get away with it."

Beverly shook her head, "I envy you that." She found herself watching calories more and more often these days. Lately, it seemed that even looking at a meal would put on weight.

"Don't. It's more of a hassle than it is a blessing. Sometimes I get so wound up that I go for days without sleep. When I finally do, it's usually to crash for at least twenty-four hours." She smiled ruefully to herself. "I once spent an entire week without sleeping, while working with a friend of mine. My brother and my friend's husband threatened to stun us and lock us up until we slept. I pointed out that we could probably pick any lock they put on us, and that when were out, we'd be looking for revenge. At that point, Ben and Jason decided to leave us be."

Beverly nodded and smiled, "It's nice to have people around who miss you when you disappear."

Mick raised an eyebrow, "You sound like someone who's feeling a bit lonely."

Beverly shook her head, "I don't mean to. It's just that lately there've been a lot of changes aboard the ship, and a lot of people I used to socialize with, are now gone. I guess I'm being a little small minded about this, but I do sort of miss my friends."

"That's only normal," Mick told her. "I went through the same kind of thing several years ago when my family moved. It took me a while to make new friends, but part of that was probably because I threw myself into my work in order to avoid thinking about it."

"Yeah, but there's only so much time I can spend in sickbay before I get stir crazy," Beverly told her. "I used to have a pretty full social life. Now, I find myself reading medical texts alone at night."

Mick chuckled, "Well, if you're looking for something physical, I usually work out in the gym around 22:00 ship time. I'll warn you though, it tends to be a pretty eclectic martial arts program."

Beverly smiled, "I used to study the bat'leth with Worf."

Mick smiled and shook her head, "Never cared much for that weapon. It's too unwieldy for my taste. If I'm going to work with an alien weapon, I much prefer either the Vulcan Ahn-woon or the Romulan sienov. I really don't understand humans' fascination with alien weapons styles. Earth has a very rich history of martial arts. I have a friend who insists that the best weapon to master is the short stick. He says it's functional, effective, and easily improvised. To this day, I haven't been able to find an argument against that."

Beverly was surprised, "Somehow you didn't strike me as a martial person, Dr. Seizemore."

Mick smiled and replied, "Mick, please; and as for the martial arts: I've had some very good teachers over the years. I've sort of picked it up and found myself enjoying it. There's something to be said for the therapeutic value of bashing in someone's head, or having it done to you."

Beverly laughed out loud as Guinan arrived with their meals and asked. "I take it you ladies are having a good time?"

Mick smiled over at her and said, "We were just discussing the medical value of getting your butt kicked."

Guinan shook her head and said, "Not your normal prescription, Dr. Crusher."

Beverly noted the interplay and said, "Not usually for my patients, but it does have some value for me. Sometimes I just need to blow off some steam in the gym."

McKenzie began to saw into her steak and said, "If you want to mix it up in the gym sometime, let me know. I miss my favorite sparring partner, and could use another one."

"Your favorite sparring partner?" Guinan asked.

McKenzie smiled and said before popping the slice into her mouth, "My husband, Jason."

"I thought Jason was your friend's husband," Beverly said.

McKenzie chewed her food and then sipped her tea before asking. "Same name, different men. My Jason is Jason Seizemore. Bill's Jason is a different Jason. "

Beverly exchanged looks with Guinan and then asked, "You spar with your husband?"

"My husband and my brother," she said mischievously. "Everybody else says I'm too mean to spar with."

"Really?" Beverly asked as she leaned back. "Maybe I'll take you up on your offer. I was a pretty good student in Worf's mok 'bara class."

"Be glad to have you," McKenzie said.

"You are acting rather pleased with yourself," Beverly smiled and leaned forward. "Do you really think you're that good?"

Mick smiled and leaned back, "I'm good, but I'm by far not the best of those I know. I studied too long on alien worlds to think that. I'm too erratic and, and my brother tells me that I am too easily distracted to ever be a true master of any particular form. I just fight to win. "

"That's quite a confession," Guinan said.

Mick smiled up at her and said, "Not really. I've moved around quite a bit, and any Federation scientist worth their salt who thinks that their lives may not be put in danger, is too stupid for the title. My brother made sure I knew how to protect myself."

"Now that's an interesting attitude," Beverly told her. She really was surprised by the comment, and the insight was more in standing with a different century. "Surely you can't see yourself as that important to the Federation," she teased.

Mick smiled at her and said, "Important to the Federation, no, important to my family and friends, yes. Doctor Crusher, outside of your son in a few decades, I can safely say that my intellect is probably the most advanced in the Alpha and Beta Quadrants. I'm not trying to be a braggart, but it's a simple statement of fact. It's been that way since I was a child, and to be honest with you, if it weren't for my brother, I probably would have gone insane because of it. "

Beverly found the comment intriguing and for some reason not quite as off putting as she would have thought. "What about your parents?" she asked.

Mick shrugged, "They died when I was about thirteen. Ben took care of us after that."

Beverly nodded, not knowing really what to say. She'd heard of siblings like that being close, but had not really run across it before. She wondered how things would have been different for her if instead of her grandmother raising her after her parents died, if it had been an older sibling. It was definitely something to think about. "You sound like you two were very close."

Mick laughed, "Listening to us as kids, you'd never know it. We fought like cats and dogs. But when our parents died, Ben stepped up and took care of things for us. We still tease each other massively, but when the rubber hits the road, we both know that the other one is there for us."

"How about you? You interested in finding out if I'm as full of crap as I sound like?" Mick asked Guinan.

"Somehow , I get the feeling that anybody who underestimated you Dr. Seizemore would be in for an unpleasant surprise," Guinan replied.

"Like I told Dr. Crusher, Mick, please," McKenzie said. "Whenever someone calls me Dr. Seizemore, I expect to find myself in trouble."

"Do you get into that much trouble Mick?" Guinan asked.

Mick grinned and answered, "You have no idea, Guinan. You have no idea."

**Enterprise Gym 22:00 ship time:**

Beverly put her pack down on the bench and looked around. Over in one corner, she saw the small form Dr. Seizemore going through warm-up stretches. She noticed two long bags leaning against the wall that obviously held some kind of weapons.

The woman was surprisingly flexible as she worked through the major muscle groups, making sure that she wouldn't pull a muscle while working out. Beverly walked over, nodded to her and began her own stretches. Beverly considered the conversation she'd had with the young scientist. She wondered how she might have known about Wesley. As far as Beverly knew, Dr. Seizemore had never been more than an attaché to Starfleet, not a member of the organization itself.

Beverly considered what she knew about the woman. She had approached Starfleet with plans about the new transwarp engines not long after _Voyager_ had returned from deep inside the Delta Quadrant. After eighteen months of studying the declassified details about the Borg transwarp network, she'd managed to produce a functional transwarp engine. She'd then spent the next year overseeing their development for the _Sovereign _class starships. When_ Enterprise_ had returned from nearly being destroyed in the whole Shinzon mess at Ch' Havran , Dr. Seizemore lobbied Starfleet to use _Enterprise_ as the test ship for the new engines.

After almost two years of refit, Dr. Seizemore was here now ready to go with the ship on its first real mission: to find the enhancer colony deep in the Gamma Quadrant. Beverly hadn't had much contact with the woman in those two years, but now she should have her chance. She watched the woman come out of her stretches and begin some rather brutal katas. She watched as the woman moved gracefully through the techniques, each one designed to turn an opponent's attack against them. "That's a Japanese style, isn't it."

Mick nodded to her and said, "It's Shoto-khan, karate: combat style."

"Will Riker practiced a Japanese form: Ambo-jytsu. He claimed it was the ultimate form of human martial arts."

"Everybody who practices a style makes the same claim. If I'm ever in a situation where I'm blind and have a staff with a proximity sensor on it, I'll consider ambo-jytsu the ultimate form. Until then, I'll stick with a style that has a proven record in the widest variety of situations," Mick told her with a smile.

"So what do you consider the ultimate form?" Beverly asked her.

"The form that works," Mick replied. "Like everything else in life, it's a matter of matching the individual with the technique that works best for them. I've found that techniques that work on one species are not always the best for another species. It's best to know as many styles as possible."

"Makes sense," Beverly told her. "So, tell me; how did you know about my son, Wesley?"

Mick smiled at her, bowed to the dojo, and then said, "I've been on this ship almost two years. Granted, most of it has been buried up to my waist in the engines and the warp core, but I've been here enough to make a few friends. Trust me, there are people still talking about Ensign Crusher. After a while I did some research. You are right to be proud of your son. He's going to go a long way in the Federation, and if we pull off this mission, probably in whatever alliance we are able to forge with the enhancers."

"What do you mean?" Beverly asked warily as she finished her own stretches and stood to bow to the dojo.

"The enhancers are the next stage of evolution in humanity. According to the files on this Traveler person, your son sounds like he carries the same genetic anomalies. Mix that with an incredible intelligence, and you have a natural fit. Don't be surprised if he isn't tapped by one side or the other as a liaison."

Beverly didn't have time to pursue the line of questioning as the sparring match began. She had to admit that Dr. Seizemore's techniques were as good as Worf's. It was very possible that the woman really could go toe-to-toe with a Klingon. She gave as good as she got, but she slowly began to realize that this was a woman who had seen combat first hand. It was little things that gave her away. She didn't fall for the traditional tournament style feints and when she moved in to attack, she did it efficiently, and brutally.

She also realized that she was having a very good time. The earlier comment about the therapeutic value of getting your head bashed in was starting to prove true. Beverly had never made a friend in the dojo before and found it to be a unique experience. When it was over, she was surprised to find herself feeling much better than she had earlier in the day. She wasn't quite so lonely, and the sense of self-pity she was feeling had disappeared.

As she wiped her face and neck with a towel and sat down on the bench beside the mats, she looked over at Mick and asked, "What do you mean about Wesley being tapped as a liaison? I mean, he's smart, and this understanding of how to travel by another means not yet understood is rather unusual, but it doesn't put him on the same level as the Organians," she protested.

"I don't think the enhancers are on that level either," Mick countered. "After all, if that were the case, the Dominion wouldn't be a threat to them." She leaned back and took a long drag from a water bottle with the old _United States Naval_ _Academy_ logo on it. "I think that they are somewhere between the energy based races like the Organians, and humanity. It sounds like your son is somewhere along the same lines, not quite an energy being, but more than human."

Beverly thought about that. She'd never considered the idea of a connection between Wesley and these enhancers. It was possible, but to be honest, the information they had on the enhancers was sketchy at best. Admiral Shir' Khar had said that they had exhibited incredible psychic and physical abilities when they defended the Earth against the Dominion. Wesley's own abilities could fit that description. "You may be right Mick. To be honest, I hadn't considered it."

"You might want to think about it," Mick told her. "He's about the closest thing that the Alpha and Beta Quadrants have right now- that is besides the Rihansu Elementals that is."

"Elementals?" Beverly asked.

"They are a Romulan priests who have unusual abilities linked to one or more elements. They are rare, but very powerful. I would say that they are the closest equivalent to an enhancer that the Rihansu have," she told Beverly.

Beverly gave her a questioning look. "How is it that you use Rihansu and Romulan so interchangeably? Not very many people know enough of their language and culture to be aware of those."

Mick smiled, "It's called knowing your enemy. I've studied enough of the information about Captain Kirk's experiences at _Levaeri V_, and Dr. McCoy's experiences on Ch' Rihan to gain some insight into their culture. I even speak the language, but I'm told with a horribly out dated accent." Mick laughed at that. Reading Rihansu is sometimes easier than speaking it."

Beverly chuckled and said, "I've heard the same thing said about Klingon. I think it's all the hard consonants."

"With Rihansu, it's all the aspirated consonants. Sometimes I feel like I spitting at people when I try to speak it. But you've got a point about Klingon. I once ended up in a duel with a Klingon because I tried to clear my throat and insulted him instead," Mick said with a smile.

Beverly laughed at the comment and then thought about it. Of the few Klingon insults she knew, several of them would sound like a human clearing his or her throat. "The sad part about that, is I can see it happening."


	3. Books and Boasts

Author's Note: This is an AU Star Trek Universe with several of the following changes:

_Star Trek: First Contact_ did not happen. That was the most fucked up story Berman ever tried to pass off. It violated several things established in the Original Series and just plain sucked. Instead, I'm using what was established in "_Strangers from the Sky_" as the first contact Earth had with the Vulcans.

I am drawing heavily from Diane Duane's _Rihannsu_ series and merging it with _Star Trek: Nemesis_. It's sort of rough, but will work.

I'm also borrowing heavily from _The Vulcan Academy Murders, Spock's World, Final Frontier _(the novel) as well as _Star Trek Phase II_.

The other stuff is based on an online game I ran with this story line. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Note: The Vulcan and Romulan language used for this story came from Vulcan Language Dictionary and the Rihannsu Encyclopedia. The references to Lt. Crusher and Tuvok's service aboard the _Titan_ and many other pseudo-historical notes come from Wikia Memory Alpha

**Deep Space Station 9: Third Shift**

Commander Tuvok entered _The Yokul-Mahr-Kel_, and looked around. The kiosk directory on the Promenade suggested it was the only Vulcan restaurant on the station. Of course since the name of the establishment literally meant "eatery" in his native language that suggested that the place was actually ran by Vulcans who understood Vulcan dietary customs. The sign in Federation Standard as well as Vulcan that read: **Warning Gravity Shelf Beyond This Point: Vulcan Normal Gravity** was another clue. He found the place to be clean, tidy, and reserved in its atmosphere, all qualities that continued to reinforce his previous hypothesis.

It was well into the station's third-shift so it was currently rather quiet, with only a single Vulcan patron sitting at a nearby table quietly eating what appeared to be baked mashya, and krei' la and reading an actual hard copy bound book. From the appearance of the book, it was very old, and probably a collector's item. The young woman herself was fair skinned with long silky black hair and quiet young. She was wearing a Starfleet uniform with an ensign's pip on her collar, and seemed to be totally absorbed in the book she was reading. Tuvok had heard that _Enterprise_ was getting a new flight control officer right out of the Academy and briefly calculated the odds of this young lady being her.

As if sensing that she was subject of some speculation, the young woman looked up and saw him standing at the door. She raised a single eyebrow at him and then nodded slightly in recognition of him. Tuvok noticed that she gently closed the book and placed it into a satchel she was carrying before returning to her meal.

"You may choose whichever seat you wish sir," an older Vulcan gentleman said next to him. Tuvok gently berated himself for not noticing that the man had come up beside him.

"Thank you," he replied and chose a table that overlooked the Promenade and glanced over the menu. After signaling for the wait staff, he placed his order, "A Yarmok salad sfith-masu dressing and theris tea, please," he told the man. It had been a while since he'd had a good Yarmok salad. The replicators on the _Titan_ just weren't up to the task of getting the taste and texture correctly. Tuvok had spoken with Lt. Crusher on several occasions about the problem but it had never been satisfactorily resolved.

"Acknowledged," the waiter replied and went off to fill the order.

Through the space above the low wall, he noticed another Starfleet officer, walking along the main passageway of the Promenade speaking with what appeared to be a Romulan security officer. He knew that the situation with the Empire had thawed a great deal over the past two years, and that the Romulans now had a consul here on DS-9 to facilitate their vessels carrying out trade in the Gamma Quadrant. However, the Rihannsu were an extremely agoraphobic race, and the idea of one of their security officers actually fraternizing with a human was remarkable.

He watched as the two men went into an establishment marked _Quark's Holosuites._ That was even more surprising, and tended to make the intelligence officer in him curious. The Rihannsu was tall, and lithe, like most Vulcanoids; the human however was massive. He was tall, almost reaching two meters, and massing somewhere near a hundred and twenty-five kilograms. He had green eyes, and longish red hair pulled back in a pony-tail- barely within regulation length. He moved with an unusual grace that surprised Tuvok to see in a human, especially one that massive. Of more concern were the Commander pips on his collar.

_What would a Starfleet Commander have in common with a Romulan security officer_, he silently asked himself. No answer coming readily to mind, he sat quietly and contemplated the past several years since returning from the Delta Quadrant. There was the failed infiltration mission on Ch' Rihan to contact Ambassador Spock that he'd only survived because he'd been rescued by the _Titan _in the proverbial nick of time. Then there was the last two years he'd spent aboard _Titan _as her primary tactical and second officer. They had been filled with adventure, but were for the most part unsatisfying. He did not like the changes he was seeing in Starfleet. He was not appreciative of the return to a more militaristic organization. Tuvok was at least honest enough with himself to recognize the need for the changes; after all Vulcan itself had been threatened by the Dominion invasion; he just did not have to be comfortable with it. However, he had to admit that this new mission offered him some hope that at least the Galactic Exploration branch of the fleet wasn't going to be pushed aside by the more aggressive military types

He brought himself out of his meditation as his food arrived. He nodded thanks to the waiter and began to eat his meal. He was surprised to find that the salad was quite good. The greens were fresh and not replicated and the dressing had just the right mixture of vinegar, kov-sayas oil and bar-kas spices. The krei-la biscuits were excellent, and went quite well with the tea.

He noticed when the young Ensign finished her meal, paid for it, and left. She really was quite young, and Tuvok wondered about her early service in Starfleet. Most young Vulcans did not complete their formal educations until well into their thirties or forties, as it took them this long to reach sexual maturity. Starfleet had a policy of not accepting any Vulcan into its ranks until they had at least finished all of their educational training. This ensign was barely out of her teen years and for her to have finished her education so early and to have graduated Starfleet was remarkable to say the least. It seemed to be a day for Tuvok to be surprised. He made a mental note to increase his meditation later this evening.

_**USS Enterprise: **_**Main Briefing Room 0700**

Commander Tuvok took his place at the briefing table and looked around. He'd since put names to most of _Enterprise_'s command crew. Captain Picard was settling into his seat. Across from his was Lt. Commander Le Forge, the ship's chief engineer. Next to Le Forge was Dr. Crusher, evidently not only the ship's doctor, but his former crewmate's mother. On his right was Commander Greenbough, who turned out to be the officer he'd seen on the station with the Romulan. On his left, was a short human female with reddish blonde hair who was evidently a civilian technology advisor. Across from her was a young short somewhat mousy looking man wearing a lieutenant's pips and medical blue.

"By now, you've all had a chance to read over the mission parameters. I would like your input on the situation," Captain Picard said. He turned to Tuvok first. "Commander Tuvok?"

Tuvok cleared his throat and began, "The data that has been cleared by Starfleet Intelligence suggests that we are dealing with a formidable people. They are capable of physical transportation of matter without the need of instrumentality. They possess powerful psionic abilities beyond even those trained at Gol, or on Betazed. They have evidently been embedded in Starfleet Intelligence from its conception, and they are concerned about some unknown Federation policies becoming metaphorical stumbling blocks to any alliance with them."

"My question is, how could that much of Earth's history, I mean a whole war could be hidden?" the mousy man asked.

"Evidently Dr. Jarn, it was a concentrated effort by the newly founded United Earth Government," Dr. Seizemore replied. "It was a time of great chaos; one in ten people died, and the war itself lasted almost thirty years. By the time President Stryker came to power, a generation and a half had passed since the Enhancer War. A lot of people were probably looking for a reason to forget, that particular war."

"You may have a point, Dr. Seizemore," Dr. Crusher pointed out. "Things were in chaos, and the report did say that the Enhancers set off some kind of computer virus to destroy any mention of them. By that time, the world was well on its way to a paperless society."

"Are there _any _records from that time regarding the Enhancers?" Picard asked.

"I have managed to dig up some diary scraps that were preserved in the files uncovered at Morehead State University. They are not much, but they give us some insight into the thought processes of these enhancers," Tuvok said. Actually finding the scraps had been something of a chase, as Starfleet Intelligence was trying to reclassify everything involving the enhancers. Getting this information out from under them had been a major coup. "You will find them on your padds."

Tuvok watched as the other officers went to their padds and read:

_**Unknown Writer:**_

_Dustin and I are all packed and ready to go. Our goodbyes have been said. At my mother's request, we are taking Lee with us. We spent today visiting his mother at her grave. I still can't believe what all this war has cost us. Damn the UN!_

_**Commander Benjamin Franklin Storm USN Ret. 202001.23**_

_I have started focusing the full assets of Storm Avionics into the project on the moon. My sister is glad that I have finally taken over the reigns of the company I've made her run while I played military flyboy. We've moved the Arissian vessel there already, and will be able to start installing the fold generators in the fleet within a few weeks. Mr. Seven and Mr. Flint have been very helpful to us. I can't help but wonder if I'm running away. The fight I was shown has come and gone. Now my destiny is mine, and I'm not sure what to do with it._

_**Duchess Katherine Katz- from the Archives of the British Royal Museum. 202512.24**_

"_I've done what I can for England. Either William will take the advice I've given him, or he won't. Gods help the Empire if he doesn't. Sadly Collin has decided to stay behind. He says that he can do more for us here, guiding Earth through what is to come than he could out there with us. Adam hit the ceiling over it. Willie is considering drugging and kidnapping him. As hard as it is for me, I have to leave my first born here to face the horror that is to come. At least he's been taught by the best there is when it comes to politics. Mr. Flint has agreed to keep an eye on him for me. May the UN rot in hell for what they started._

_**Sloan Carter 201004.15**_

_Well, Dannon and I paid our taxes today. Of course we've funneled so much of his and my own resources into the project on the moon that we didn't have that much to pay. I wonder if Katherine, Willie, and Adam would consider us a loan. Still, I think we're doing the right thing. Vincent has told Katherine that he is dealing with his side of the forces. It is best not to leave any of them behind. With him and the other four gone, there would be no more forces to keep the weak-bloods in line. Even Noah and his group are going. He's been hunting down every other one like him to make sure we leave none behind. Between him and Katherine, we're leaving Earth totally psi-blind. _

_Emory Northmore 202312.21_

_It's Mother's Night. Trey and I have decided to stay. He believes his commission here won't allow him to leave just yet. His Lady has told him that it is not yet time for Hers to leave. We're going to miss all of our friends, but we are prepared for the war that is to come. Trey and I are going to be working close with Collin. We think he offers the best chance for the survival of Earth and eventual peace. We are going to miss our friends, but eventually hope to join them. (did I just write that a second time? I guess we really are.) I will just be glad when things settle down. I really do want children some time. The lesson we both learned that Night of Howls years ago, has not been lost on me._

_Trey believes that the war will be coming soon. He's been in contact with his old friends in the Navy. Most of what's left of our old group is either dead or leaving. That just leaves us here to stand watch over the long night to come. I've spoken with the Lord. We've our own plans to return what so harshly taken from Trey that led to the Night of the Howls._

_I've been slowly weaning myself away from the mindsong. According to Katherine, the Mideanites are going to move en-mass to the new star system. She's hinting that they will be taking Kentaurus with them. That will be a feat in itself. I wonder what the inhabitants of her sister will think. _

_The last of Earth's original races will be gone. K'hori tells me that the Voth left even before his people did. With him taking the Shan off-world again, and the whales almost gone- although they have been making a come back lately, I don't believe they will survive the nuclear holocaust to come- that leaves just humans. Let's just hope that they don't screw things up too badly._

"This is remarkable, Commander Tuvok," Captain Picard said. "Where did you find these documents?"

"They were in the personal files of Mr. Berheide, the graduate student who found the original information on the war. These are the ones that Starfleet Intelligence hasn't re-classified yet," Tuvok told him.

"Maybe so, but they are valuable to us. They give us some insight into the thought processes of the people we want to meet. From what I can see here is a people who have to leave their home in order to preserve it," Picard said. "I can respect that."

"But they were leaving Earth at its most vulnerable time," Dr. Crusher protested. "If what that one writer suggested, and they had some kind of star drive, then they could have prevented a great deal of the violence that was to come. If nothing else, they left the world when it needed their leadership and guidance the most."

"I don't think so," Dr. Seizemore said. "Think about how they felt at that time. They had just fought a war to ensure the freedom of not only their people, but the free peoples all over the world. Now they were forced with either fighting the same war again against the augments, or leaving. They knew that this time, although the augments weren't as powerful as they were, there more of them. That would make the fight longer and more vicious. Also in the intervening time, more countries had joined what was known as the nuclear club. A conflict this time was likely to result in the destruction of the planet. They had no choice, leave or watch the world be destroyed."

Tuvok noted the Dr. Seizemore had reached the same conclusion he had. Under those circumstances, their decision was the most logical. They had the technology and power to leave, so they did. In the end, their decision had been right. It saved more lives than were lost in the coming war. "Most logical Dr. Seizemore," he said. She simply nodded in return.

"How would you suggest we proceed?" Picard asked.

"Carefully," Dr. Jarn said. "They left Earth at one of its most tumultuous periods. They left for reasons of freedom and justice. That means they are not likely to trust any government that comes out of Earth."

"Any other suggestions?" Picard asked.

"Honesty," Tuvok said.

"I beg your pardon?" Picard replied.

"You will be dealing with active telepaths captain. There was mention of something called the mindsong. That suggests some kind of telepathic communication. They may not have the same rules of propriety concerning reading minds that most telepathic species in the Federation have. It would be best to be completely honest with them," Tuvok replied. "Tell them our intentions and don't try to hide any unpleasant truths."

"I'd concur, Captain," Dr. Jarn said.

"Very well," Captain Picard replied. "We are scheduled to enter the wormhole at 1100. After arriving in the Idran system shortly afterwards, I want to get underway immediately. The trip to the Saexa system should take us just a little over six days. I want as many options as possible when we get there. We will meet again in three days. If you come up with something significant between now and then, please bring it to my attention. Until then, return to your duties."

_**USS Enterprise**_**: 0200**

As he entered the main doors of the establishment called _The Leading Edge _Tuvok looked. A tall dark-skinned woman was working at the bar. Several crewmen were scattered around the recreation area at tables, conversation pits, and various game tables. "Welcome aboard _Enterprise_, Commander Tuvok," the woman said as he stepped up to the bar.

"Thank you," he replied. "I would like an Altair water, please."

"Of course," the woman said as she filled the order. "My name is Guianan, and I'm the hostess in the _Leading Edge_. If you have any special requests for meals or drinks please let me know and I'll do what I can to meet them."

"Thank you," he told her again. "I'll be sure to keep that in mind." He looked around the room and saw the young ensign from DS-9 sitting at a table with Commander Greenbough. They were talking quietly at a nearby table.

"Kareel-ifla is a form stripped of its soul. It's all logic and basics with no style. It is effective, but no more so than k'a'sum'i, which definitely has more grace and style," the Commander said.

"I do not disagree with you Commander. However, since kareel-ifla is effective and does what we desire it to do, it is sufficient for the needs of the Vulcan Institute for Defensive Arts. It also avoids accusations of favoritism of one style over another by the Institute," the Ensign replied.

Guinan delivered his drink and he nodded toward her and then took a nearby table. He continued to watch the room. _Enterprise _was considerably larger than both _Voyager_ and _Titan_, and it had been a while since he'd had this many crewmates. "Commander Tuvok," Commander Greenbough interrupted his thoughts, "Ensign T'Lear and I were discussing various martial arts taught at the VIDA, and being as you have taught there yourself, we would welcome your input. If you are so inclined to give it, that is."

Tuvok raised his eyebrows. "You have experience with Vulcan martial arts, Commander?"

"I lived there for two years before entering Starfleet Academy," the Commander said.

"Then you should know that no person could even begin to master the Vulcan styles in only two years, Commander." Tuvok said.

"I was there as an instructor, not a student," Commander Greenbough told him. "Although I never go to any place without the thought of learning something forefront in my thoughts. It was an exchange program developed by the Federation Council on Defensive Arts."

Tuvok remembered the way the man was walking with the Romulan Security Officer. An interest in alien martial arts might explain why he was talking to the Rihannsu. "You have an interest in non-human martial styles I take it?" Tuvok locked eyes with the other man.

"It's a hobby," Commander Greenbough said, meeting Tuvok's eyes. "I've always been something of a physical person, and always have an interest in learning new styles of combat." Tuvok was impressed. Not many humans could hold his gaze, but in Commander Greenbough's eyes he found a primal challenge that met his own. There was in his eyes a fierce spirit that could be gracious and civilized, but at the same time was capable of terrible violence if it chose to do so. For just a second, Tuvok caught an image of a great cat at rest in his mind. He was forced to control the Vulcan instinctual reaction to all things feline and suppress a physical shudder. Something told Tuvok that he did not want to ever face this particular human in serious combat.

Again Tuvok raised an eyebrow, "Both of you are correct. The kareel-ifla form of combat taught at the VIDA is a compromised form created by combining the best techniques of several variant martial styles. As Commander Greenbough so aptly put it, it is not a system with a history, so it lacks the grace and style of the other older forms. However, it does what we require of it, and it avoids political battles."

"I thought it was something like that," Commander Greenbough told him. "While I was there, I got to do some training in the k'a'sum'i style. I found it to be very graceful and definitely a style I would like to learn more about."

"You mean a'sum'i," Ensign T'Lear suggested.

Greenbough shook his head, "No, I mean k'a'sum'i. I didn't study the style for tournament practice, but its practical application as an officer in Starfleet. I also studied v'shan while there."

Tuvok looked the man up and down. Most humans did not have the physical strength to practice v'shan. This man however looked to be of considerable strength, and if the size of his forearms were any indication, he would be able to carry out the most difficult of the v'shan practices. "That is most unusual, Commander. Not many humans are taught those techniques, the k'a'sum'i, or the v'shan."

Greenbough smiled and said, "I have always been an apt pupil, Commander Tuvok." He smiled and gestured down at his rather well developed body, "Most people take one look at me and decide I'm a big dumb jock. However the masters at the VIDA saw something else, and accepted me. It may have been because I went there to learn as well as well as to teach."

"That could very well make a difference to the masters at the VIDA," Tuvok replied. "However, I'm curious as to how a student, not yet out of his teens could have mastered enough any martial arts to attract the attention of the Federation Council on Defensive Arts."

Commander Greenbough looked at him and smiled, "Because, believe it or not, Commander Tuvok, I'm that good."

That statement caught Tuvok by surprise. It was unlike any human in Starfleet to be that much of a braggart. "And evidently not humble at all."

Commander Greenbough's smile only got broader, "Humility is for thralls, and others who would chose servitude over freedom. I am a thane, a warrior, and I declare my deeds loud and proud," he said.

"Pride cometh before the fall," Tuvok quoted one of the dominate human books of philosophy.

"Then fall I shall, but it will never be said that I claimed to be less than I am."

"You are a different sort of human than any I've met before Commander," Tuvok said.

"I would be surprised if I wasn't, Commander Tuvok," Greenbough said. "Before they died, my parents raised me in the old ways, and the old faith. I don't claim to be more or less than I am. I don't doubt that there are people out there who can kick my butt into next Tuesday sideways, but I've yet to meet them."

"I think I know a few people, Commander Greenbough" Dr. Seizemore interrupted. "But I don't think you're likely to end up in a fight with them should you come across them." She nodded to Tuvok and said, "Commander."

Tuvok nodded back to her, "Dr. Seizemore."

Before he could say anything else, she looked down at T'Lear and said, "T'Lear, it's good to see you again. Your parents are well, I hope. I didn't get the opportunity to speak with them the last time I was on Vulcan."

Ensign T'Lear looked up and nodded. "It is good to see you again, Dr. Seizemore. I was aware of your presence on the ship, but have yet had the opportunity to greet you. I am glad that I do now."

"I understand, my young friend. Things have been hectic for all of us. Did you get my last gift to you?"

"I did, and thank you for it," T'Lear said. "Although I find the particular genre to be somewhat unbelievable, I must admit to the writer's ability to draw his reader into a good tale. Synthetic folklore seems to be a uniquely human area of literary exploration."

"I supposed then, for educational purposes then I should make sure you get the complete set," the Doctor said with a smile. She then gently handed T'Lear two more hardbound books. From the looks of them, they were quite old. "For the completion of your studies," she said.

Tuvok sensed T'Lear's almost momentary slip into emotion. The girl managed to recover herself well, so he felt no need to bring it to her attention. "Thank you," T'Lear said taking the two books. "I will be sure to read them on my off time. Again, I must admit to this author, Noah Hale's ability to draw the reader into a fantastical fictional world.

"You should particularly enjoy Dannon Griffin's work then. "He a predecessor of Hale's and was something of a literary prophet in his works concerning enhancers," the Doctor told her.

T'Lear raised an eyebrow and asked, "Do you think his insights might be useful on this mission?"

"I think his insights will be enlightening before this mission is over. Griffin was one of the pioneers of the science-fantasy genre in the mid twentieth century. His body of work although small compared to Hale's tended to be less optimistic and more realistic. Especially the stuff that was found and published sixty years after hi disappearance."

"You have an interest in twentieth-century Terran literature, Ensign?" Tuvok asked.

"Dr. Seizemore is an old family friend who has been gifting me with several books from that period, every so often. Although the work is fantastical in nature, and somewhat off the beaten path in style, it is informative, and definitely a unique experience in literature."

"I do not understand," Tuvok said.

"The authors she has been exposing me to tend to write in a style that was then known as science-fiction and fantasy. Griffin was one of the early pioneers of the style in the nineteen forties. There were several of his pieces that were lost until the end of the century, and were published then with a surprising level of sales to the author's estate," T'Lear said. "The genre was known for its social commentary disguised as either humor or adventure stories."

"I believe that one of my shipmates aboard the _Voyager_ had an interest in the two-dimensional film versions of this genre," Tuvok said. "He was primarily interested in someone called, Captain Proton."

Dr. Seizemore laughed and replied, "Not quite the same thing. The books themselves were rarely adapted to film, and then only those stories that were extremely well known or easily adapted. A lot of bad stuff was made into film, including Captain Proton and Attack of the Lobster People. This is actually much better."

"I should hope so," Tuvok replied. "Those productions were horrendous, and I honestly felt that they spoke very poorly of Terran culture of that time."

"Perhaps I should start loaning you some of these books as well," Dr. Seizemore said. "Far be it for us to leave Commander Tuvok with a poor opinion of twentieth century science fiction."

"It was not my intention be insulting, Dr. Seizemore. I was simply an observation of my experience with that genre," Tuvok replied.

"I understand Commander Tuvok. I was simply attempting to offer you a better view of that genre," Dr. Seizemore replied.

Tuvok raised an eyebrow at the statement. "If you say there are better examples of the work, I am willing to give them a read."

"Would you like it in hard-copy or as electronic media?" she asked.

"Electronic media will sufficient," Tuvok replied.

Commander Greenbough just smiled broadly. "I think you've been maneuvered into a corner, Commander. And quite well, I might add."

Dr. Seizemore simply pulled a padd out of her pocket and handed it the Commander.


	4. Saltwater and Imperial Sports

_**USS Enterprise**_** Bridge: 1000 ship time**

_Captain's Log Stardate 228205.14_

_Enterprise is currently entering the Saexa System, a star system believed to be part of the Transentient Empire. The system is unique in our experience with six class M planets in a balanced series of orbits to give the most jaded of gamblers nightmares. We are currently scanning several hundred wrecked Jem'hadar ships outside of the system. Starfleet Intelligence was evidently correct in its assessment of an unsuccessful attack by the Dominion on this star system. We are entering at sub-light and scanning the debris. Dr. Jarn is experiencing an unusual psionic presence in the system._

Wrecked ships tumbled past the _Enterprise _like some kind of mechanical asteroid field. Most were twisted and hulled like some giant child had punched through them in a fit of rage. Picard watched the wreckage of some of the deadliest foes the Federation had ever faced drift past him and he wondered what kind of force could reduce Jem'hadar assault craft to so much twisted metal and poly-fiber. "Scans indicate high energy residue, Captain, but not enough to account for this kind of damage to this many ships. Only one in twenty were hulled by directed energy weapons," Commander Tuvok announced from behind him.

"Scan for non-Dominion ships," Picard ordered.

"Acknowledged," Tuvok replied. Picard heard the security officer's fingers dance across the console. "None sir, all wreckage present is consistent with Dominion technology. Some of it appears to have had Breen upgrades, but it is all recognizable as Dominion."

"Any residue on those holes in the craft," Picard asked. "Can we get any idea what kind of force tore those holes in the assault craft?"

"Scanning."

Picard looked over at the counselor and asked, "Any more information on the psionic presence you felt?"

Dr. Jarn closed his eyes and seemed to cast his mind out. "It's some kind communication's net sir. It's like a billion conversations going on at once."

"Military?" Picard asked.

"Yes, and no," Jarn said. "There is a military component to it, and there is a societal component. There are communications between ships and bases, and there are discussions of the latest "furball" game scores, and there's talk about homework, and not just a little flirtatious conversation going on, sir. It is a telepathic link that spans entire star systems, and serves an entire civilization. It's like the Fednet only without the subspace lag."

"Remarkable," Picard replied. "And they are letting you into their net?"

"Within certain parameters, sir," the counselor replied. "To be honest, I don't have the ability to project this far out, only receive. I can't access any of the military aspects of it, but I can tell you who won the Imperial Playoffs between Greystoke Razors and the Ranyn Sabres. Evidently it was a surprise upset, and the Sabres won by two points in double overtime. "

Picard smiled at the man's attempt at humor, "Well, that tells us something in itself. They have a competitive spirit, and channels for aggression through organized sports. " He thought for a moment and then added, "I wonder how this furball compares to parisses squares?"

"I'm not sure, Sir," Jarn replied. "I get no real details except the score and that someone by the name of Junior Williams on the Razor's team was severely injured late in the game and that resulted in the Saber's win. The rest of the imagery I'm getting doesn't make a lot of sense. I think it's a lack of shared cultural parameters."

Picard turned back to Tuvok, "Anything on the scans?"

"I'm picking up minute particles of non-Dominion residue on some of the tears in the assault craft. The vast majority of the holes were not made by energy weapons but by tearing and collision with solid material," Tuvok said.

"What is the composition of the material?" Picard asked.

"It's a rather unusual composition of titanium, silver, and an impressive poly-fiber that I can't identify at this time," Tuvok said. "It is almost biological in nature."

"Biological?" Picard asked.

"It's not living, but it is similar to complex neuro-muscular tissues used for surgical reconstruction in catastrophic injuries. They seem to have applied the concept to mechanical technologies."

"Like the Borg?" Picard asked. Just the thought of that particular species still sent shivers down his spine.

"No sir," Tuvok replied. Picard found himself releasing the breath he didn't know he was holding. "It's more like applying biological processes to machines than machine processes to biology."

"Very well, Mr. Tuvok. What can you tell me about the unusual makeup of the Saexa System?"

"A remarkably balanced star system. There are six Class M planets in the third orbital arc, each holding a Trojan position to the others. Three are balanced on the X,Y axis, and three on the Z,Y axis. There are four gas giants in the outer system on opposite sides of the same orbit, again two on the X,Y axis and two on the Z,Y axis." He looked up from the board and said, "This configuration is in direct violation of all accepted theories of stellar formation. There is no way two stellar accretion discs could have formed out of this star."

"What are you suggesting, Commander?" Picard asked.

"That this star system was constructed. Long range scans suggest that each of the planets is made up of matter of different ages from different stars," Tuvok said.

"What you are suggesting is unbelievable, Commander," Dr. Jarn said.

"No more so than the Dyson's sphere that the Enterprise discovered several years ago. The Federation's own experiments with project Genesis, and any number of other galactic anomalies are just as intriguing," Tuvok said. "This situation is only unbelievable because we believe the inhabitants of the system might be capable of this kind of stellar-forming," Tuvok said.

"Be that as it may," Picard said, "It's a remarkable piece of engineering. Being able to construct entire solar systems is impressive."

"There is an alien vessel on an intercept course, sir," Tuvok said.

"Scan it and put it on the screen, Commander," Picard said.

The main view screen changed to show a large ship that was shaped vaguely like a long rounded and flattened cylinder. From either side of the stern section were a set of thick wing-like structures that ended in warp drive nacelles. A large crescent shape wing was set perpendicular to the warp nacelles extending from the dorsal and ventral sections of the ship. Across the front bow in an arc was lettering in English: _TMS Thunderbird, IFC- 71_. A second arc swept under it in a font that Picard didn't recognize. She was lean of trim and it was obvious that she was meant for battle.

"We're being hailed Captain," Ensign T'Lear said.

"Put it on the screen," Picard told her.

Again the screen wavered, and this time the bridge of the alien vessel appeared. A tall human with jet black hair and Amerind features was sitting at the center seat. He was wearing a black and forest green uniform. The bridge layout was not too different than that of a Federation vessel. Picard guessed that humans tended to settle on the most efficient design. "This Fleet Captain Lee Plainwalker, of _Their Majesties' Ship Thunderbird,_ calling Federation Starship _Enterprise_, please acknowledge."

Picard looked over to his Executive Officer, "They seem to know us, Number One."

"We do have a ship's transponder code, and our name is evident on our hull," he replied. "And they evidently use English as much as us."

Picard winced at that. He had yet to establish a rapport with his first officer like that he had with Commander Riker. Commander Greenbough took some getting used to. "Noted," he said. He turned back to the screen and replied, "This is Captain Jean Luc Picard of the United Federation Starship _Enterprise_. We come seeking peaceful contact."

The man on the screen smiled and leaned back in his chair, "I'm glad to hear it, Captain. As you can see, we've had our fill of combat of late. I take it you've come in response to our Watchers' actions during the Dominion attack."

Picard nodded and replied, "We were surprised to learn of your existence, and appreciative of your assistance."

"We will not let Earth fall to the Dominion, Captain. We may no longer live there, but it IS our home world after all. Some of us remember it rather fondly," Plainwalker told him.

"Excuse me?" Picard asked. "Are you suggesting that there are members of your Empire who are old enough to have been part of the departing colony?"

Plainwalker smiled, "I was an adolescent on the cusp of manhood when we left, Captain. I remember the dusty desert of Eastern California and the green hills of North Alabama quite well. My parents are buried on Earth, sir."

Picard nodded. This was unexpected. "I have been charged by Starfleet Command to try and make peaceful contact with your Empire. May we approach the system?"

Fleet Captain Plainwalker's face became grave, "I'm afraid not, Captain. We are still conducting security sweeps for Founders and rebuilding the damaged cities. I have been ordered to escort you to the Babylon Station in neutral space, where you will take on Ambassador Lady Tethys Griffin and rendezvous with the _Midgarth's Warder. _From there, you will be escorted to Thule, our Imperial home world to be presented to the Emperor."

"You were expecting us then, I take it," Jean Luc asked.

"We've been waiting for your arrival for years , Captain Picard," Plainwalker told him. "We're glad that you are finally able to reach us. We regret that it took an invasion by the accursed Dominion to get you here."

"Babylon Station?" Commander Greenbough asked.

Plainwalker gave an unheard command and the sound was muted. A blond male came up to him and spoke quietly. Picard noted that the blond man had six fingers on each hand, but otherwise appeared like a normal human. Plainwalker returned to the screen looking somewhat paler. "Babylon Station is a trade station we built in neutral space so that we can trade with several of the Dominion worlds without opening ourselves up to their spies. It was named for a fictional space station from Earth when I was a boy." He looked more seriously at Captain Picard, "Might I ask for the name of the person asking the question?"

Picard looked over at his first officer and wondered why his question would pique their curiosity. "Of course, this is Commander Greenbough, my first officer."

Again, Plainwalker exchanged looks with someone off screen and then returned his attention to the _Enterprise,_ "Welcome to the Transentient Empire, Captain Picard. If you would have your flight control officer coordinate with my Lt. Steele, we can develop a flight path. I'm afraid that the _Thunderbird_ is not equipped with transwarp drive, so we're going to have run our engines fairly hot to keep up with you."

"Very well, I'll have Ensign T'Lear contact your Lt. Steele. I look forward to meeting you at the Babylon Station," Picard said.

"As do I Captain, and if I haven't already said so, welcome to the Transentient Empire," Plainwalker said.

~*~

_**USS Enterprise: **_**Main Briefing Room: 14:00**

Jean Luc looked down the table at his main command crew. "Mr. Tuvok, what kind of reading did you get from the _Thunderbird_?"

"She's a heavily armed war craft sir. Her hull is made up of a similar material as we found as residue from the Jem'hadar craft. She carries an impressive armament of directed energy weapons of an unknown type. Her torpedo bays give off a signature similar to our quantum torpedoes, suggesting a similar weapon. Her shield ability is unknown, but her hull is heavily armored. Even if the Jem'hadar were to get through their shields, getting through their hull will be another obstacle."

"Her volume is comparable to Enterprise but with 298.6 percent of our mass. Her engines are equivalent to the WTF-200 Engines from the Sovereign Class. There are however two anomalies on her for which I cannot account. The first is a secondary energy source at the juncture of secondary hull and the vertical wings. It has an energy reading not unlike the spatial trajector used by the Sikarians in the Delta Quadrant."

"An interstellar transporter?" Picard asked.

"It has similar readings, but I do not believe it is the same device," Tuvok said. "The readings are confusing at best. I would have to see it applied before I could make any kind of logical conjecture," Tuvok replied.

"And the other anomaly?" Picard asked.

"Approximately one fifth of her volume seems to be filled with a saline hydrogen hydroxide solution," Tuvok said. "There are numerous life forms inside the solution."

"Salt water?" Beverly asked. "The only truly aquatic species in the Federation are the Argosians."

"Possibly," Tuvok said. "The readings are consistent with an aquatic species, but it is unusual for truly aquatic species to develop star drive."

"So we have evidence that this Transentient Empire is not made up of enhancers only," Picard said. "That's good, it makes them more likely to be able to adapt to the concept of diversity that is the Federation's strength."

"What about the people themselves?" Picard asked. "What are your impressions, Counselor?"

"Excitement, for the most part, tempered with some trepidation. Their psi-net went highly active right after our encounter. It is obvious that they are excited about the contact, but wary for some reason," Dr. Jarn told him.

"The unknown Federation policies?" Jean Luc asked.

"Most probably. There is something about the Federation that worries these people," he replied. "I cannot get any information about it from their psi-net, however. It's a vague worry about what they call the Federation prejudices."

"Very well, we will cross that bridge when we come to it. " He looked around the room. "Any other observations?"

"One wonders why a species that is advanced enough to stellar-form an entire star system has not developed transwarp technology," Ensign T'Lear asked.

"Good question, Ensign," Picard replied. "Any theories?"

"Unknown, Captain," Tuvok replied. "At this time we have insufficient data. I would suggest a greater level of interaction with their crew might give us more information."

"Time until we reach this Babylon Station, Ensign?"

"4.3 days at Transwarp Factor 2.5, sir," T'Lear said. "Any faster would put an undue strain on the _Thunderbird's _engines. Their ship is running a hot Warp Factor 9.6 to keep pace with us."

"Can they maintain that speed for four and a half days?" Picard asked.

"Lt. Steele assures me that it is possible. He also assures me that their engines do not damage the local subspace field like our old standard warp engines, and that they are designed to handle those speeds for much longer times."

"Very well, then," Picard said. "Then why not invite Fleet Captain Plainwalker and his command crew over for dinner tomorrow night? That would give us an opportunity to get to know them better, and maybe fill in some of our gaps."

"A logical course of action, Captain."

"Number One?" Picard asked.

Commander Greenbough gave him a strange look before answering. "Sharing a meal is an established historical method of breaking the ice between governments. I think it would be a good idea. It will give us a chance to get to know them on a social level, and that might give us a better understanding of their culture."

"Very well, I'll issue the invitation. I'm putting you and Commander Tuvok in charge of preparations. We will plan for 17:00 tomorrow evening. Have Guinan prepare _Ten…_ I mean The _Leading Edge_ for a banquet. Unless there is something else, you're dismissed to your duties."

Everyone got up from the table to leave. Picard looked at Commander Greenbough, and said, "Not you Number One. Please stay."

The larger man nodded and waited until the room had cleared. After the door closed behind Ensign T'Lear, he said, "What can I do for you Captain?"

"Are you ill at ease with me Commander?" he asked. "Twice I've indicated you, and you've reacted as if I'd insulted you. Would explain that, please?"

Greenbough seemed to consider the Captains question. He finally reached some mental conclusion and asked, "Permission to speak freely, sir?"

Picard was surprised by the request, but something told him it would be best to accommodate the man, "Granted."

"I am uncomfortable with term, Number One sir. It is a term that has certain connotations among the Ilyrian colony as the top intellect of their particular generation. I am neither Ilyrian, nor the greatest intellect of my generation." He gave a hard quick sigh and added, "Thor's Beard, I'm among the last alive of my generation, but I know I'm not the smartest."

Picard was surprised. The tradition of referring to his executive officer was one he'd picked up from reading the writings of Fleet Captain Pike. He'd never given much thought as to why Pike referred to his exec as Number One. He hadn't considered that it might make his exec uncomfortable. "I see. No insult was intended, Commander Greenbough, but as you are uncomfortable with it I'll refrain from using it."

"Thank you sir," Greenbough said.

"What are your impressions of our hosts?" Jean Luc asked trying to get the conversation back toward something less personal.

"I think we may be in over our head, sir," he said. "We have a few new toys to play with, but I get the feeling that they are unimpressed with our transwarp drive. From the readouts I saw on Commander Tuvok's board, I would not want to take the _Enterprise _into combat against the _Thunderbird,_" he said. "I don't think we would fare very well."

"That's a rather depressing thought," Picard replied. "Here we are in the pride of Starfleet, the Federation's flagship, and you tell me that we are not a match for the first Imperial ship we meet."

Greenbough smiled and said, "I know. The other day I made a comment about not yet having met anyone who could best me in hand to hand, and yet I somehow get the feeling that I just might on this mission. It's sort of unnerving."

"Then let's make it a point of this mission not to get into a shooting war with the Empire," Picard said.

"Agreed sir."

Picard looked over at his exec and realized that he'd already relaxed a great deal, "Dismissed Commander."

"Yes sir," Greenbough said leaving the briefing room.


	5. Dinner Conversations

_**USS Enterprise: **_**17:45**

Jean-Luc waited in the main transporter room for the command staff of the _Thunderbird_ to beam aboard. Fleet Captain Plainwalker had been rather emphatic about using his ship's transporters, commenting that they worked on a different principle than the Federation's matter-energy reconstruction devices. He looked over at the transporter technician who was standing at the ready. Even though the other ship was operating their own transporters, Starfleet regulations required there to be a technician on duty anytime the transporter pad was in use.

Standing next to him was Commander Greenbough looking rather resplendent in his dress uniform. Picard had to admit that the man had a definite presence in the room, almost like a mountain in the distance that simply could not be ignored. At this point in time he was engaged in the time-honored tradition of all naval officers in a dress uniform: he was pulling at the collar of his jacket, as he complained, "I'm convinced that Starfleet has a division whose job it is to make sure these things are as uncomfortable as possible."

"I've yet to meet an officer who felt differently, Commander Greenbough," Jean Luc said with a smile. "However, I think you may be correct."

"I know I'm right," Greenbough said. Jean Luc was surprised to find that he was actually starting to have a casual relationship with the man. There was so much that was so rigid and reserved about him, that according to Dr. Jarn, few of the crew had managed to develop anything other than a professional relationship with him. Most of them seemed to be in awe of him, especially when he and Commander Tuvok gave a demonstration of Vulcan martial arts. So far only Ensign T'Lear had been able to break through his zone of privacy- and that in itself was surprising. Vulcans were not known for their social interactions with humans.

`The air over the transporter pad suddenly split and a hole opened up in space as Fleet Captain Plainwalker stepped forward onto the _Enterprise_'s pad. He was accompanied by six other humans in what was evidently their version of a dress uniform. It looked remarkably like what could best be described in the old wet navy as Dress Whites.

The last officer, a tall beautiful woman with long blue green hair pulled back in a pony-tail stepped onto the pad and the hole in space closed. There were slits in the sides of her uniform to allow what appeared to be wings of flesh running down the sides of her arms to a line down the center of her back like some kind of flying squirrel. There was something compelling about her, something that stimulated Jean-Luc like he had not been since he was a teenager.

Jean Luc tore his eyes away from her and returned his attention to Fleet Captain Plainwalker. He offered his hand and said, "Welcome to the _Enterprise,_ Captain Plainwalker."

The man took his hand and shook it firmly, "Thank you Captain Picard." He looked around the transporter room and said, "Ships with this particular name had a reputation for glory from before we left Earth. The last one I remember was a super carrier that carried the name. That ship was part of the Saudi Blockade in 2012, and helped rescue hundreds of Enhancers held captive there. She brought a lot of people out of slavery."

He smiled and then turned and said, "I'm sorry. Let me introduce my command crew." He gestured toward an attractive young woman with brown hair and grey eyes. "This is Lieutenant Commander Wilhelmina Norris, my chief engineer." Then he turned to the blond young man with six fingers. Oddly enough the man was wearing old style glasses. Jean Luc noticed a small pin on each of his collars shaped like the old Greek symbol for psi. "This is Lieutenant Commander Greg Tyde, my communications specialist and linguist." Then he gestured toward the blue haired woman with the wings and said, "This is Lieutenant Commander Aerin Vovarasky, my security chief." Smiling he indicated a tall woman with red hair, "My chief surgeon Dr. Carley Pruitt." Pointing toward a small young man with red hair and freckles who looked barely old enough to be in space he said, "Lt. Windham, my historian and anthropologist." Finally, he came to another man with six fingers, and the same Greek symbol on his collar. He too was wearing old-style glasses and had raven hair and blue eyes. "And this is Lieutenant Steele, my flight control officer. He was rather taken with your flight control officer's intellect and is hoping to meet her." Jean Luc noticed the young man blushing.

"I'm sure Ensign T'Lear would enjoy the opportunity to meet her counterpart from the _Thunderbird,_" Captain Picard said. "This is Commander Greenbough, my executive officer."

Commander Greenbough offered his hand to the captain and said, "It's a pleasure to meet you Captain Plainwalker."

Jean Luc watched Plainwalker rather carefully. He seemed to be in awe of Commander Greenbough as much as several members of his own crew. "It is a genuine pleasure Commander Greenbough. "

"If you will follow us," Picard began as he gestured toward the door, "we can adjourn to the lounge for cocktails before dinner." Guinan had outdone herself in preparing _The Leading Edge_ for the dinner, and he was looking forward to watching his crew interact with the Imperial Officers. There was much to be learned about a culture in how they approached formal occasions.

Arriving at the officer's lounge, Jean Luc found his officers in a neat line waiting quietly to receive their counterparts from the Empire. It was his turn to present his officers to the Captain of the _Thunderbird_. He introduced Dr. Crusher, Commander Tuvok, Lieutenant Commander La Forge, Ensign T'Lear, and finally Dr. Seizemore. He watched as the two crews began to intermingle, and wondered about the differences he saw among them.

It was not long into the cocktails that Captain Picard found himself talking quietly with Captain Plainwalker. "You said you were a young man when you left Earth, Captain Plainwalker. Is an extended lifespan such as yours the standard in the Empire?"

Captain Plainwalker chuckled and sipped his ale, "To one extent or another. Various enhancer genes grant longer life spans at different levels. I was born just before the turn of the Twenty-first Century, but I'm starting to feel my years now. Others are far older than I am, and there are those much younger. We've also lost a great many colonist over the past two hundred years- to the Dominion, to the Borg, and to general accidents."

"The Borg?" Jean Luc asked feeling a tightness in his stomach.

"Yes, the Borg. A rather obnoxious being calling himself Q, appeared in our first colony system about a hundred years after the founding. He thought we weren't quite humble enough so he dropped a Borg Cube into the system. We lost two hundred fifty-six thousand colonists to them before they were finally destroyed."

Picard was surprised to hear that information. "We've had our own dealings with Q, and they've never been pleasant. I'm sorry for your loss. Has he not bothered you since?"

Captain Plainwalker shook his head, "Not that I know of. There's a death warrant out for him in the Empire. He's not likely to show his face for some time."

"A death warrant?" Picard asked. Not even the Klingons still used execution as form of criminal punishment. "Isn't that a little drastic?"

"The man is responsible for the death or mutilation of two hundred fifty-six thousand Shan. We don't often issue a death warrant, as a matter of the fact, his is the only one in Imperial history, but we will carry it out," Captain Plainwalker said.

"I'm curious as to how you might do that," Picard replied. "The Q are pretty close to omnipotent."

"There are weapons that are capable damaging the Q, Captain. It doesn't take a lot of research to develop them, and we have some of the best minds in the galaxy." Plainwalker said with a smile, "I believe that if you check with your Starfleet Intelligence, you'll find that Admiral Janeway encountered these types of weapons in the Delta Quadrant. All we did was reverse engineer them."

"How did you get them?" Picard asked. "I mean, that's a whole quarter of a galaxy away."

"And another level of reality, we have our ways, Captain Picard," Plainwalker told him.

"I have trouble understanding a culture that can do the things you claim to be able to do, that still practices the death penalty," Picard told him.

"The next level of evolution is not all Organians, and Melkotians, Captain Picard. If that were the case, then there would not be a Q Continuum. There are as many cultures on this level as there are on your level."

"Then you do consider yourself on a higher evolutionary level to humanity?" Picard asked him.

Plainwalker smiled, "Captain, we are not as advanced as the Q, or the Organians, or the Astarians. However, we are more evolutionarily advanced than you are."

"We would be if you had not left Earth," Picard said.

"No, Captain Picard. If we had not left, Earth would have been destroyed. The Augments were a power unto themselves. If we came into conflict with them, humanity would not have survived. We'd already fought the UN to a standstill, and driven them back into that Gods forsaken desert kingdom that they allied themselves with. The world was on the verge of World War III. That war killed six hundred million people, almost one in ten were dead. If we'd become involved, then that would have pushed the death toll into the billions. I don't think that the planet would have been ready to deal with the Xindi a hundred years later if we'd stayed."

"You could have seized power, stopped the war," Picard suggested.

Captain Plainwalker shook his head, "No, that's not our way. We had just fought our way out of death camps, eugenics programs, and reeducation facilities in the Saudi desert. My own mother was involved in the first battle in those camps. The idea of imposing our will on anyone else was then and is now repugnant to us." He sipped his tankard of honey mead. For some reason Guinan had decided on a Nordic theme for the dinner.

"But you are an empire," Picard protested. "That suggests an expansionist agenda. I find it hard to believe that you are expanding without conquering."

Captain Plainwalker smiled broadly, "We have conquered no other races, we have no subject peoples besides ourselves, and the only conflicts we have are with the Dominion and the Borg, and those are defensive. We are an Empire because when we formed the government, we refused to let our leaders retire. They in turn set up an imperial form of government to better administer the needs of our people. If we need to expand into other systems due to population pressures, we stellar-form an uninhabited system to fit our needs. We have neither the desire, nor the need to conquer others."

Before Picard could reply, Guinan spoke up. "Ladies and gentlemen, if you would like to join us at the table, dinner is ready." She gestured toward a large well-laden table. Roast pork, roast duck, and all the traditional foodstuffs of Northern Europe were evident.

"It looks delicious, Guinan," he said. "I'm curious, why did you and Commander Greenbough decide on a Nordic theme?"

"Didn't you recognize the writing on the hull of the _Thunderbird_," she asked quietly.

"I can't say that I did," Picard said.

"You must be slipping in your old age," she smiled at him. "It was old Nordic runes."

"Ahhh," he said as he followed her toward the banquet area. "So you decided a Viking style banquet would be appropriate?"

She stopped at the top of the pit leading to the banquet table. "I thought it might be important. If they went as far to letter a ship named for a Native American deity in the old Norse Runes. Secondly, they said we would be rendezvousing with a ship named the _Midgarth's Warder_. In case you didn't know, that's another name for the God, Thor. I get the feeling that Viking culture may be important to them."

"How did I miss that?" he asked.

"Because modern Terrans have become so secular that you are many times blind to the beliefs of others. You are willing to grant any other species their religious freedoms, but you snicker at your own," Guinan said.

"Do I detect a rebuke there, old friend," he asked.

"No, Jean Luc, simply an observation," she said. "Now let's go join our guests. I think if you let your officers interact, you may learn more than you might expect," she told him.

"I'll keep that in mind, Guinan," he replied.

~*~

The dinner was going well, and Jean Luc took Guinan's advice and simply listened. He found the Imperial Officers to be charming, and open in their conversation. It was not what he expected from his previous dealings with more advanced species.

"Tell me, Lieutenant Tyde," Dr. Jarn asked, "What do the pins on your collar mean?"

The man smiled and gently reached up and touched the gold pins before replying, "They mean that I'm a graduate of the Psi-corps Academy on Kentaurus. I'm a bonded telepath."

"Bonded telepath?" Dr. Jarn asked. "What does that mean?"

"It means that my testimony regarding telepathic matters is admissible in a court of law," he replied. "It also means that I've sworn to the Imperial Psionic Code regarding matters of privacy."

Dr. Jarn nodded, "Are there many telepaths in your empire?"

" A little over one fifth of the population is psionic in one capacity or another. The vast majority of us are Mideanite, but there is a significant percentage of enhancer psis, and then there are the psis from the House of the Iron Rose."

"House of the Iron Rose?"

"The great families of the Empire are divided into five primary houses and one hundred forty-eight minor ones. The House of the Iron Rose is one of the Protectorate houses," He nodded over to Lieutenant Windham, the young anthropologist. "Stefan there is a royal prince in that house."

"Royal Prince?" Commander Greenbough asked.

"My parents are on the Imperial Council," the young man said with a blush. "I was sort of a late in life baby."

"Are you a psionic as well?" Dr. Jarn asked.

Windham shook his head and said, "No, sir. My heritage lies in another direction- hopefully."

"I don't understand," Dr. Jarn said.

The young man smiled, "It's difficult to explain. Let's just say that I have yet to marry, and leave it at that."

"Does each of the houses have their own traditions, then?" Beverly asked.

"Some do," Lieutenant Steele said. "Like Lieutenant Tyde said, there are five major houses in the Empire: The House of Thule, the House of Leight, the House of Iron Rose, the House of Levi, and the House of Kentaurus. Iron Rose and Levi are what we call Protectorate Worlds- that means that no base-lines are allowed to visit without heavy escort, and only at specific times and dates. They are full of all kinds of little rituals and traditions that don't make sense to outsiders, but we accept and respect them anyway. I and Lieutenant Tyde are from the House of Kentaurus, we're Mideanites. Our history dates back to before the Great Flood. Our traditions are rather special. Lieutenant Commander Vovarasky is House of Leight, that means she's Shan. Their traditions are a little more understandable. Fleet Captain Plainwalker, and Dr. Pruitt are from the House of Thule. They don't really do traditions like we do."

"What do you mean by don't do traditions?" Beverly asked.

"House of Kentaurus, and House of Leight are made up of the Mideanite and Shan populations from old Earth respectively. Houses of the Iron Rose and Levi are made up of a rather peculiar group of metamorphic peoples from Earth's mythology. The House of Thule is made up individuals from the general population, led by a group of enhancers who brought Atlantean technology forward to the Twentieth Century. They don't have the cultural traditions that the rest of us do." Lieutenant Steele replied.

"Atlantean?" Jean Luc asked. "That's a myth."

"So are a lot of things in history that have turned out to be true, Captain Picard," Plainwalker said. "Troy was considered a legend until Schiellmann discovered it in 1870. Atlantis was just a little older and a lot less like what Plato described."

"For the moment, let's say that I can accept that. We've seen our share of "legends" turn out to be based in fact. What does that mean for our governments ability to get along?" Jean-Luc asked. "We've come to understand that there is some concern your empire has with Federation policies. What policies?"

Fleet Captain Plainwalker leaned back in his chair and dabbed the corner of his mouth with a napkin. "I am not the Empire's political representative. I can only speak for myself."

"And what policies do you personally find troubling?" Jean Luc asked.

Fleet Captain Plainwalker seemed to consider Jean-Luc's question carefully. "Captain, it is my job to protect the interests of the Empire. I do not make policy nor do I try to approve or disapprove of it. Like you, I do my job. However, I don't think I would like very much to live in your Federation. It seeks to create equal outcomes, not opportunity. It seeks to bring about equality not by strengthening the weak, but by weakening the strong."

"I beg your pardon," Jean Luc asked. "What do you mean?"

"You punish success. If someone has a natural advantage in a situation, you move to eliminate the advantage instead of finding a way grant it to others," Plainwalker said.

"Look at your policies on personal wealth. You limit how much a person can achieve."

"We are a cashless society," Jean Luc said. "Nobody is poor, and nobody is rich. We're all equal. With the advent of replicator technology, we've eliminated the material needs of our population. People now work to improve themselves, not for wealth."

"How long do you think the Federation's economy could have withstood the war with the Dominion?" Captain Plainwalker asked.

Jean Luc shrugged, "Without doing lasting damage, probably five or six years."

"We've been in a shooting war with the Dominion for nearly two hundred years," Captain Plainwalker told him. "The reason we can do this is because we create wealth through a growing economy, by encouraging innovation and risk taking. We have replicator technology too, and have eliminated poverty a well. The poorest imperial citizens live as well as anyone in the Federation. Our economy has been growing at a steady rate, and nobody is without the basic requirements for life. Everyone has an equal opportunity for advancement, but we don't punish those with advantages."

"The Federation trades with many civilizations who have capitalist economies," Jean Luc replied. "Our Prime Directive forbids us from interfering with other cultures. If your Empire reaches and agreement with us, we won't try to interfere with your economy."

"How about your laws against genetic enhancements?" Dr. Pruitt asked. "There are aspects of imperial policy that practices safe and proven methods of genetic enhancements. Some of these practices are older than the mountains of Earth themselves."

"I don't understand," Beverly interjected. "What genetic enhancements?"

"Using Shan biotechnologies we are able to modify ourselves to better fit into various societal roles, to give children to couples who would ordinarily be unable to procreate, and to extend our lives almost indefinitely. When combined with technology, we've been able to make breakthroughs in science that are as far above the Federation and the Dominion as you are above the Earth we left behind," Dr. Pruitt said.

"But what about the least of your people?" Geordi asked. "What about those who don't measure up? You yourself said that base line humans were not allowed to visit certain of your worlds without escorts. How does that make everyone equal?"

The quiet Lieutenant Windham spoke up, "They are welcome to visit, Lieutenant Commander. However, the rules are there for their protection. Would you allow someone to walk around in a highly radioactive area without protection? The same applies to the protectorate worlds. There are times when those worlds are extremely hazardous to non-enhanced humans, and to many enhancers as well."

"Forgive me for pointing it out, Lieutenant," Commander Greenbough interjected, "But you don't exactly strike me as being among the toughest of your crew. How is it that you survive there?"

The young lieutenant blushed deeply and said, "All is not as it appears, Commander Greenbough. I have certain advantages that most humans don't. My senses are heightened, I can take more damage than most, and my reflexes make me much quicker than I appear." Commander Greenbough nodded, but it was clear to Jean Luc that the man was not convinced. "Perhaps if we have the opportunity I can give you a demonstration."

"Oh no, the historian is going to show off again," Lieutenant Tyde said.

"It's not showing off if you know what you're doing, Greg. Besides, you know the old saying. It's always the smallest person that's the most dangerous."

"And you just happened to be six inches more dangerous than most," Tyde commented in a tone that suggested a cultural reference.

"Noah Hale's Split Empire novel," Ensign T'Lear interjected. "You've read Hale?"

Lieutenant Windham smiled, "Of course, I've read him. I grew up on his stories. His stuff is still popular to this day. I am surprised to find out that his work has survived on Earth."

Ensign T'Lear turned to Dr. Seizemore and said, "A family friend has been introducing me to his work. It's interesting to say the least, and based on our conversations this evening, I'm gaining a greater insight into his work."

"I always knew you had a great deal of Lady Amanda in you, my dear. Now you've gone and proven it," Dr. Seizemore jested.

"She was after all, my grandmother," T'Lear said.


	6. Dinner Part Deaux

USS Enterprise NCC 701 E

Fleet Captain Lee Plainwalker listened to his officers interact with their Federation counterparts aboard the _Enterprise_ for dinner. He paid particular attention to how Lieutenant Windham handled himself. Windham was a political time bomb waiting to go off. Plainwalker had already had a long discussion with Admiral Storm over his being placed aboard the _Thunderbird_ . It was not often that an Imperial Prince served aboard a ship. It wasn't that the Imperial Princes usually chose another service, for not serving meant the loss of their status as a Noble, but instead there were just so few of them. When they did however, their commanding officers usually ended up under the proverbial microscope from Imperial Command.

Fortunately for Lee, the Lieutenant had a pretty good head on his shoulders, was well qualified for his position as historian and anthropologist, and was well-liked by his peers. The fact that his bond pride was yet to be closed was of some concern to several people in the Empire. Usually by the time a young man of his background had reached their early twenties, they'd closed their bonds and were well on their way to building a family. So far, the man seemed uninterested in finding the final partners and settling down. Of course, Lee understood that when that happened, he would either lose the Lieutenant or gain several other officers.

Much had changed among his people since he had left Earth with his Uncles Seth and Dustin those long years ago. They'd forged a new society out of the raw materials of the stars. Just like a flower knew the direction of the rising sun, Lee knew in his bones that what they had forged was right for them. He knew that the most important law of the Empire came from the first in the Statement of Responsibilities and Rights of Citizens was the right to be left alone, and the responsibility to leave others alone.

Lee let his attention drift across the room to where the young lieutenant was having a rather interesting conversation with Ensign T'Lear and Commander Greenbough about one of his favorite authors. Of course Hale's work was considered one of the seminal pieces of literature that had guided his people in establishing their culture. Hale had picked up the mantle of the civilization that Griffin had described in the nineteen forties and made them popular again by the late nineteen nineties. Many of those concepts were adopted to fit Enhancer civilization, and had been seminal in making it acceptable. Lee secretly suspected that it was Hale's and of course Griffin's work in describing what was then known as alternate lifestyles that eventually led to even Earth accepting the concept of same-sex spouses and group marriages- something that had been highly controversial. His work was even more groundbreaking than E.E. "Doc" Smith's Children of the Lens in its suggestions on how enhancer culture would eventually develop and function; and Lee knew that some of "Doc's'" work was so controversial that he could only hint at them in the nineteen sixties.

That left of course the inevitable question: Was Hale a prophet, or an architect. Lee had met the man, and considering his position in the Empire, he felt that he was a little bit of both. He'd set out an idea of what society should be like and then worked hard to make it that way. Of course since he had the backing of the Shan, the families that would eventually found the protectorate worlds, and the Imperial Grand Council, then there was no wonder he'd had so much effect on civilization. Hale had put it simply: Love should not be defined by those not involved, and made the idea stick. He had opened a whole new language to his people and it had been embraced with the same enthusiasm that they approached everything else.

Commander Greenbough was asking Lieutenant Windham, "If there are no limits on competition, how is it that you keep your society from being conquered and dominated by the strongest of your population?"

Windham smiled and replied, "Our laws put a very strict limit on what a person can do to another. You can argue, you can cajole, and you can implore until you are blue in the face, but you cannot step over the line of a person's right to be left alone. No law in our Empire exists that doesn't preserve life, liberty, or property."

"Doesn't that sort contradict the concept of an Empire?" Greenbough asked.

Windham shook his head, "Not at all, Commander. We're an Empire in that we have an Emperor who has control of the executive branch of government. The Emperor is advised by the Grand Imperial Council and the Imperial Council. The Emperor controls the Imperial Aeronavy and Ground Forces, as well as directing the government and foreign affairs. The Imperial Courts control the judiciary, and the police. The Imperial Senate is made up of three houses, the House of Nobles, the House of Citizens, and the House of Subjects. They make laws, the Judiciary interprets and enforces them and the Emperor handles the military and foreign affairs."

"Who has the most power then?" Lieutenant Commander La Forge asked.

Lieutenant Windham blushed and sighed, "Eventually, the Emperor has the most power. However, that comes mostly from the respect and love that the people have for the throne."

"How long has your current Emperor ruled?" the being known as Guinan asked. She was a dark-skinned humanoid who was obviously not of Terran origins.

Again the Lieutenant blushed. Lee understood that the young man was not comfortable discussing his family. But if he was going to be on a diplomatic mission, he had better get used to discussing the government very openly. "There is no current Emperor as you think of it," he said. "When we refer to the Emperor, we refer to the thirteen members of the Imperial Grand Council acting in one accord. They have all held their positions since the Founding, almost two hundred years ago. Each has a specific area of influence, but when they are all forced to act as one, the Empire sits up and takes notice. That is when the Emperor speaks, and few people are willing to argue with them."

"Are they afraid of them?" Guinan asked.

"Windham shook his head and replied, "Not like you think. It is more of a matter of respect- of being afraid of disappointing them. They led our people in battle against the United Nations back on Earth. They forged the alliances and technologies that eventually allowed them to leave for the stars. They watched over and protected our first colonies as we slowly expanded out into space. The Bureaucracy grew out a need to carry out their wishes."

"What about what the people want?" Lieutenant Commander La Forge asked.

"That's reflected in their selections for the House of Citizens and House of Subjects. It actually carries a great deal of weight in the Imperial Senate, and on more than one occasion has resulted in policies that have over-ridden the Imperial Council. They are the ones who developed the procedures for the advancement of ships' minds in the Empire."

"Ships' minds?" Dr. Crusher asked.

"Our ships are considered sentient beings, Dr. Crusher. There is a process for them to earn advancements through service to the Empire," Lee broke into the conversation. "The _Thunderbird_ has been in service for almost fifty years. Her present ship's mind has served for twenty-two of those years, second only to the _Midgarth's Warder_. They have a rather large sum of credits and other incentives built up for their use when they retire."

"How does a ship retire?" Captain Picard asked.

"The ship doesn't, Captain," Lee told him. "The ship's mind however, can. When it does, it is removed from the ship and a new one replaces it. Years of service, combat pay, and other awards earned it extra enhancements to the body that is grown for it." He smiled, "So you see, Captain Picard, genetic enhancements really are a way of life for our people."

Lee watched as the concept he was discussing slowly sank into the Federation personnel. He knew that this was going to be one of the two main sticking points for relations between his people and those they'd left behind on Earth. The Federation feared the concept of genetic enhancements giving individuals advantages over others so they outlawed them. The Empire embraced them as a way of raising all boats and bettering the people as a whole.

Of course the concept of equality of individuals verses equality of rights was also at the heart of the other area of dispute: economics. The Federation prevented its citizens from achieving great amounts of economic wealth, and again the Empire embraced it.

"I'm afraid your people and mine have some very different outlooks on life. We have had experiences with sentient ships' computers and none of it has been pleasant. Before they started appending letters of the alphabet to ship's named _Enterprise_, there was an incident that almost destroyed one of her predecessors because a sentient computer ran amok. We don't put ships in charge of people, Captain, " Picard said.

Lee smiled and shook his head, "Neither do we. Our ship's mind and its computers are two different things. The ship's mind is a biological brain that is tied into the main processing unit of the ship. It maintains communications to both the subspace communications network as well as the Imperial Psionic Network called the Mindsong. It is organic and living, and when it retires, it gets a new body with the genetic enhancements it has earned. There are thousands of young and old men and women who've spent decades being a ship's mind living in the empire. That kind of service is highly rewarded, not the least of which is that they are granted citizenship the moment they are installed in the ship."

"You do tend to do things differently, that's for sure," Picard said.

Commander Greenbough nodded and asked, "I take it your Empire is very much like that described by Heinlein?"

Windham smiled, "Commander Greenbough, several of the founding ideas of our Empire were developed by Noah Hale, and Dannon Griffin, two science-fiction writers of the twentieth century. Our primary outpost in neutral space is called the Babylon Station, a fictional space station from that same era, and we have intergalactic starship race every four years called the Kessel Run. We are a literate people, and we recognize good ideas when we see them. We owe our concept of earning citizenship to Heinland; we owe our social structures of marriage and child-rearing to the Shan culture and to Marshak, Culbreath, Griffin, and Hale. What do you think?"

"I've never heard of a civilization that was modeled on fiction. Of course, I know that fiction, and in many cases the very genre of science-fiction, has influenced civilization as a whole. Dr. Asimov's three laws of robotics have been used in the higher intelligent computers and robots," Lieutenant Commander La Forge replied.

"There has never been a people like us, Lieutenant Commander La Forge. We are descended from the rulers of ancient Atlantis, from the first sentient race on Earth, and from the Children of Lilith. Many of us are naturally immortal, and others extremely long lived. We have created families in ways that few humans could ever experience. When we are capable of bearing children, then we do so, and with a great deal of zeal. When we can't, then we go to the Shan and create them in the lab. This caused a great deal of distrust of us from the baseline humans back on Earth. We were attacked out of fear and jealousy of our power. We were attacked because of the nature of some of our enhancements called for alternative lifestyles, and that threatened many baseline's comfort zones when it it came to the definition of marriage," Lee told the Lieutenant Commander

"We fought back, my mother died in that war when I was only eight. I watched her killed in that fight, it was on international television. I'll never forget that image as long as I live- the image of her being blasted into her component atoms by a UN soldier using stolen Atlantean technology will always be with me. When my uncles took me in and began what was needed to leave the planet, I was all in. I spent six years at boarding school learning what it means to be an enhancer, and then entered a career in the burgeoning American Space Command. By the time we were ready to leave, I was able and ready to lend a hand."

"You will find that Earth has grown up a great deal, Captain," Picard told him. "Many of those issues were put to rest by the middle of the twenty-first century."

"Only after Colonel Green managed to kill seveal hundred million of you," Lieutenant Windham replied. "We know Earth histoy rather well. Some very important Imperial families left much-loved sons and daughters on Earth to help you survive. I believe that the most prominent of those was probably Colin Stryker, who became the first President of a United Earth."

"President Stryker was one of you?" Picard asked. "I remember reading about his exploits when I was a young boy. His final "negotiations" with Colonel Green were rather inspired."

Dr. Seizemore grinned and replied, "It had the virtue of having never been tried."

"That was true. Green was the one accustomed to attacking people in the middle of negotiations, and didn't expect Stryker to pre-emptively take him out, personally. But of course in doing so, Stryker was able to break the back Green's eco-terrorist movement," Lieutenant Windham said.

"Your knowledge of our history is rather impressive, Lieutenant," Captain Picard said.

"I AM after all an historian, Captain Picard. I would be remiss in my duties if I didn't know my subject matter," Lieutenant Windham told him. He was of course right. What he wasn't telling Picard was that as an Imperial Prince, he also received one of the finest eduations in the Empire. Since it was expected that he would be involved with first contact with Earth, he'd recently received a refresher course on Leight.

Recognizing the enthusiasm of youth, Picard smiled at the young officer and agreed, "And that is as it should be. I'm sure your Captain is quite pleased with your performance." Lee noticed Plainwalker's pupils dilate to tiny vertical slits for just a moment. He trusted however, that Windham's diplomatic training as a member of the Imperial Court would keep him from saying anything insulting.

Instead the young man turned back to Commander Greenbough and his voice became rather pleasant, "So tell me, Commander Greenbough, what kind things do you enjoy doing for entertainment?" The boy was about as subtle as a bear in a china shop.

Commander Greenbough, however seemed to be about as dense as one as well. He smiled at the younger officer and said, "I like to be out of doors. I do a lot of camping, hunting, and fishing. My family used to own some property in the mountains of Northwest Alabama and I still like to go there and fish on Wolf Creek."

_How could the man be that dense?! Wolf Creek Academy was where I went to school learning what it meant to be an enhancer. Was the man totally in denial?_ Before Lee could contemplate that question however, he felt Lieutenant Commander Tyde's mind gently brushed his own. A very tightly controlled telepathic message came to him. //Captain, are you aware that the plant in the corner of the room is a Founder?//


	7. A Fly on the Wall

Author's Note: Just a reminder before I get a lot of com plaints: For this story the events as described in the movie First Contact- **DID NOT HAPPEN. **I am using the events described in the far superior story, Strangers From the Sky. I'm also ignoring most of the garbage that came out of Enterprise.

Captain Picard listened to the exchange between the two ships' officers. He was especially interested in the young lieutenant's answers to the questions Commander Greenbough was asking. He understood the differences between the two cultures and realized that some were very basic concepts in thought that were going to create friction between the Empire and the Federation. He wondered if they could overcome them.

That thought caught him off guard. The Federation could overcome differences with the Klingon Empire, a culture that at its best could only be described as oppressive, but not with descendents of its home world who chose different ways of generating wealth as well as themselves. It was a sobering thought. Maybe Guinan was right. Maybe humans had a tendency to make allowances for everyone except ourselves. He listened as Commander Greenbough described his outdoor interests.

Lieutenant Windham smiled and then countered, "When we get to Thule, I'll take you to my favorite place to camp, if you'd like. We've got a nice little spread right on the Skadi River. It's ten thousand square acres of mountain and rivers on pristine wilderness."

"That sounds very nice. If my duties permit, I'll definitely take you up on the offer. It's been a while since I've been camping," Lt. Greenbough replied. Picard raised an eyebrow at the interplay between the two men. He wasn't sure, but he thought the young man was making a pass at the Commander who seemed to be oblivious to the whole situation.

"Captain Picard," Captain Plainwalker said quietly from his side. "May I speak with you in private."

Picard raised an eyebrow at the request but pushed himself back from the table, and said, "If you will excuse us for a few moments."

"Do you need any assistance, Captain," Tuvok asked him

"Not at this time, Commander," Picard told him. "Stay and enjoy the conversation with our guests."

Tuvok nodded as Picard led Plainwalker into one of the conversation alcoves. "How can I help you, Captain?"

Captain Plainwalker frowned and said, "It's more of a case of how I can help you. Are you aware that there is a Founder onboard the _Enterprise_?

"What do you mean?" Picard asked.

"The plant in the corner of the dining room, my communications officer, Lieutenant Commander Tyde informed me of the fact just moments ago," Plainwalker told him.

"I'm not questioning your officer's skills, I'm curious as to how you could detect one. I understand that even Betazeds find it difficult to read one's mind," Picard asked.

"Lieutenant Commander Tyde is a graduate of the Imperial Psi-corps Academy on Kentaurus. All members of the corps are trained to detect Founders," Plainwalker told him quietly. "Sometimes the Corps is only thing that stands between our civilization and infiltration by the Founders."

Picard thought about what he'd been told. Plainwalker had no reason to lie to him, and had brought the situation to his attention. He shuddered what to think if it had been a Romulan or Klingon who'd discovered the changeling. "What course of action do you suggest, Captain?"

Plainwalker shook his head and said, "It's your ship Captain Picard. I am unaware of Starfleet procedures in these kinds of situations."

Picard chuckled quietly to himself, "First is to confirm the intruder's existence, and location, then move to capture or contain him or her."

"Okay, I can confirm the existence of the intruder." He raised an eyebrow and smiled before adding, "That is if you trust me."

"It's not a matter of trust, Captain Plainwalker. It's a matter of diplomacy. We are not currently at war with the Dominion and the treaty with them makes it difficult to deal with in a matter that could be construed as espionage."

"Could I make a suggestion?"

"I'm open to hearing alternatives," Picard told him.

Plain walker crossed his arms and sighed, "My initial suggestion would be to use your transporters to beam the plant out into deep space. If the plant is only a plant then no harm done. If it is a founder, it will be forced to use its own abilities to attain warp travel. However, that would give several things away, and my own ship would be likely to fire on it and destroy it. We do not allow Founders inside Imperial territory. However, being as this is your ship, and you do not wish to create a diplomatic incident, beam it into a secure brig, and turn it loose at Babylon Station."

Picard was somewhat shocked at the Captain's rather cold-blooded suggestion, but after a few seconds of contemplation, realized that it was a legitimate course of action for a people at war. However, his second option was more practical, and could give him some insight into the Founders themselves. There was only one hole in the second solution. "I thought you said that your people did not allow Founders in Imperial territory. Wouldn't releasing him at your Babylon Station be the same as inside your territory?"

Captain Plainwalker smiled, "No, Babylon Station is neutral territory. We built it outside Imperial Space to give us the option of trading and communicating with other species without having to allow them access to our worlds. There have been Founders on Babylon Station before, and there are probably a few there now, either as dipolomats or spies."

Jean-Luc considered this new information. He recognized the honor the Empire was bestoying upon the _Enterprise_ by allowing her access to the Imperial Homeworld. "Very well, we'll exercise your second option." He hit his communicator and said, "Transporter room, rig a secure brig cell to hold a Changeling and then beam the potted Centaurian Banana Plant in the forward starboard corner of the Leading Edge to it immediately. I will be down to deal with the issue in a little while."

"Acknowledged, Captain Picard," the transporter technician replied.

Picard smiled and gestured back toward the dining area in time to see the transporter effect take the potted plant. Most of the diners, turned to face the now empty space, with a look of surprise on their faces. Only Lieutenant Tyde and Ensign T'Lear seemed to be unsurprised. "Please," Picard spoke to the room, "Everything is under control. There were some concerns about that particular plant and they are being looked in to now." He left it at that, knowing that his own officers would probably conclude that there was an allergy issue, or some kind of cultural problem. "Please return to this most excellent meal."

"Speaking of the meal," Beverly Crusher provided the perfect sequay, "I'm told that theme was chosen in honor of the fact that your ship's name was also written in Old Nordic runes. I'm curious, as to what role the vikings play in your society?"

Lieutenant Commander Norris from the _Thunderbird_ chuckled and said, "Outside of the fact that they gave Western Europe the ideals that forged the legal and judicial systems of Great Britain, and the US, very little. However, about thirty percent of our population follows the religion of the Nordic peoples, there are also other forms of paganism in the Empire, and a large Jewish populatiion. Although a large factor in that is the fact that Israel stood by the Enhancers when the rest of the world turned on us and them."

"Paganism is a rather primitive form of religion to be popular in a stellar empire, especially one that claims to be evolved beyond the Federation," Commander Tuvok observed.

"Not at all, Commander," Lieutenant Steele interjected. "We recognize," he turned and nodded toward the Lieutenant Commander Vovarasky, "most of us that is, feel a connection to various Gods and Goddesses. The Shan of course have a different point of view and that of course is respected as well, but for the most part, we're a faithful people. We just don't all follow the same faith. There are many Mideanites who honor the Hebrew God, as our cultural origins lie there. The protectorate worlds have a high percentage of pagans. Native American, Christian, and Hindu faiths dominate Thule. But it all falls back to our First Law: Nobody is allowed to force their faith onto another."

"And the Shan faith?" Commander Tuvok asked.

"If we are said to have one, it would be very similar to the primary faith of Vulcan, Commander," Lietentant Commander Vovaraksy replied. Again Picard felt a tension and an ardor stimulate him like nothing he'd experienced since he was a teenager. "Religion for the most part confuses us, so we ignore it. As a culture we honor no specific diety, only the possibility that we had a creator. As to what his or her will might be, we leave that to the individual to decide. We practice that First Law that Greg mentioned with a dedicated fervor."

"Back to the Nordic influences," Dr. Crusher interjected, "Would you describe your society as a warrior society then?"

Lietuenant Windham smiled and replied, "Depends on what part of the society your talking about as to whether or not they will admit if they are."

"Excuse me?" Commander Greenbough asked. "I'm not sure I followed that."

Dr. Pruitt explained, "What Stefan is trying to say is that there are definite warrior groups in our society, but they do not dominate the society. The fact that the fastest way to citizenship is military service gives our society a very warrior-like aspect. However, a citizen warrior has no more rights than any other profession. And of course there's the fact that many of our warriors don't think of themselves as such. Captain Plainwalker's uncle is a trained and seasoned warrior. He is capable of and has in the past done vast amounts of damage in combat, but if you asked him what he is, the first thing he would say is a scientist."

Picard noticed the Captain chuckle at the comment. "She's right, my uncle is never happier than when he's tinkering in his lab. Both he and his husband fought alongside my mother in the Enhancer Wars. He's a scientist first, a warrior second. As for me, I'm a warrior and an explorer. To use a favorite quote of an old teacher of mine, _I will stand between my people and those who would the free enchain._ The Dominion offer nothing less than slavery, and we will not allow the Empire to fall to them."

"I understand your concerns and your passion. I felt and still feel the same way about when the Borg attacked Earth. You have to draw a line somewhere and hold it," Picard told him. He couldn't help but notice the double take Commander Greenbough gave Captain Plainwalker at his quote.

"The Captain is not the only one who feels this way, Captain Picard," Lieutenant Commander Vovarasky inerjected. "All of us do. I was there when the Borg attacked our homeworld two hundred years ago, and a quarter of a million of our people were killed by that damnable collective."

"Of course Lieutenant Commander Vovarsky is a Shan defender, she would of course feel that way. Defenders are psychologically predisposed to defend the innocent," Plainwalker said.

"Psychologically predisposed?" Beverly asked.

"It's part of the Code instilled in us by the First Defender. At first the Defenders fought each other for mates. The damage those fights caused to our people and our cities was unacceptable. The Ilian ordered the First Defender to either bring the defenders under control or all of them would be executed. You have to understand, the defenders were the early shan's last best hope for survival in the ancient seas of Earth. Executing them would most probably result in the death of the shan as a species. The First Defender took their order seriously and brought the whole second generation back into line. He instilled the Defender Code at first by busting heads. When brain-taping became available, it was instilled as part of the cultural data uploaded to every shan."

"Brain taping?" Picard asked. "That sounds like some of Dr. Tristan Adam's work back about a hundred years ago. It did not end well in the Federation." The idea of a society with members programmed to be protective worried him. For a people who stressed free-will and the rights of the individuals, this didn't seem right.

"When someone is cloned, backed up brain-tapes allow them to pick up their former lives. The shan as a people use brain-taping as a teaching technique for their citizens at certain points in our development. We have a very care-free childhood. Certain language and physical skills are imprinted a few months after birth; language skills, and certain other important milestones are added at about one year. As the children grow, cultural, technical, and moral information are imprinted where appropriate. Whereas your children go to school for hours a day, ours attend an imprinting session for a few hours a year, and the rest of the time is spent socializing and playing." Vovarasky said.

"What about free-will?" Dr. Jarn asked.

"Everyone has free-will, Dr. Jarn," Vovarasky said. "The moral code is instilled, but it's still up to the individual to follow it. Just like a child has their morality instilled by their parents and their commulty, but it is still up to them to act or not to act."

"Still, it's a little different than our society. It's not something we expected. I'm afraid we in the Federation aren't exactly comfortable with that kind of personality tampering," Picard told the shan defender.

"We don't expect other people to do as we do, Captain," Vovarasky said. "We do as we have done since before the Voth launched a nuclear war on themselves and wiped out the dinosaurs, and we left for space to find a colony world."

"What worlds did you find?" Commander Tuvok asked.

"None, that is why we returned to Earth. Since our ships were incapable of hyper-light speeds, we had to use seed-ships. The only one that survived was the one carrying the First Defender, and it returned to Earth in the late 20th Century- just in time to become embroiled in the Enhancer Wars. Of course we wouldn't have become involved if the Chinese hadn't shot our ship down on re-entry," Vovarasky said.

"Like Lieutenant Steele said, "We have our traditions, brain taping is one of them," Lieutenant Commander Vovarasky said.

"And pin to the bottom," Lieutenant Windham said in a teasing tone.

"That too," the tall woman said. She continued with a smile returning the teasing tone, "But that only applies to people who can breathe water and want to participate. I know you, Lieutenant Windham, you and being underwater don't mix."

The young Lieutenant smiled back at her and replied, "Yeah, I know. Blame my mother."

Vovarasky grinned and replied, "I'm not that stupid."

~*~

Commanders Tuvok and Greenbough, along with Dr. Jarn accompanied Jean-Luc into the brig area. Two security guards checked their DNA sequences and then admitted them to the secure office area. Behind the force field of the cell, sat a Centarian Banana plant. Tuvok handed him a padd and he scanned the readings. Much of what he'd heard in the dinner was still heavy on his mind. He could see where there were going to be major problems with any alliance with the Empire. Their use of genetic engineering and brain imprinting was going to raise all kinds of difficulties with the Federation Council. Of course the Federation's economic policies were a problem with the Empire. He looked back up at the plant, and said, "You might as well drop this charade. We know who and what you are. Our scans confirmed Lieutenant Tyde's identification."

There was a shimmer around the plant as it morphed up into a short woman wearing a gold and tan outfit. She looked over at Jean-Luc and said, "Am I to consider myself under arrest?"

Picard smiled, "I've yet to decide about that. So far, the least I can charge you with is being a stowaway. At this point, the most is probably espionage. Which it will be I'll determine after our conversation." He pulled a chair up next to the desk and asked, "What was your mission aboard the _Enterprise_?"

The Founder smiled back at him and said, "The same as every changeling throughout the alpha and beta quadrants. To gather information on your culture and your technology." She shrugged, and then added, "And to find out more about the Transentient Empire. They've been uniquely successful in keeping our intelligence gathering at bay. We would like to know why."

"I trust a part of your curiosity was satisfied by what you overheard tonight?"

"They have a fascinating culture, unlike any we've ever encountered before. They may very well be our equals in many things. Of course most of them are solids so they must be brought under control, but I can admire the culture they have built." She turned and faced Jean-Luc and smiled, "They really are your superior, Captain Picard."  
"Be that as it may, I want to know if you pose any threat to the _Enterprise_ or its mission," Jean-Luc said.

"The Dominion does not wish an alliance between the Federation and the Transentient Empire, however the intelligence gathered at this dinner alone would be more than worth what ever difficulties such an alliance might generate."

"We had almost no cultural data on the Empire. Now we have several areas of exploration to best determine how to infiltrate their society," She smiled. "All in all, it has been a very valuable stowing away." She seemed to consider her options for a moment and then turned to face Jean-Luc. With a quick sigh, she continued, "I offer no threat to your ship or your mission, Captain. I will stay here and await being turned over to the authorities at the Babylon Station.. You know, we really should look up the cultural reference to that piece of fiction. We thought it came from a reference in your Bible. Would you mind giving me access to the entertainment tapes in your computers. After all, this vessel _is _supposed to be an instrument of cultural exchange. If I remember from my own research, even Captain Kirk allowed the Romulan Commander Ael t'Rllaillieu and her crew access to the cultural and entertainment files of his _Enterprise_. I believe that a program called Buffy the Vampire Slayer became popular in their Empire for a while from her ship's downloads. It's amazing what is of little value in one culture that becomes popular in another."

Jean-Luc thought about what the founder had said. He stood and straightened the uniform. "If you give me your word that you will retain this particlular form, and restrict your movements to the public areas of the ship, I will release you and assign you quarters." He smiled, "As a cultural ambassador. Learning about other cultures is a primary mission of Starfleet. I'm sure my people would be very interested in learning about yours."

"Can you guarantee my safety?"

"Nobody on the _Enterprise_ will harm you, and I doubt that the crew of the _Thunderbird_ are likely to attack you either. As long as you act as a guest, you'll be treated as one aboard the _Enterprise_," Jean-Luc told her.

The founder simply smiled at him and said, "Agreed. To be honest Captain Picard, I'm very curious about not only the Transentient Empire, but about the Federation as well. You are the first species in five thousand years to actually defeat us. That has left many of my people shaken. More knowledge of you would go a long way in calming their fears."

Picard raised an eyebrow and leaned stepped back before nodding to the technician to lower the screen. "You are saying that the Dominion fears the Federation?"

"Not so much fear as we are unnerved by you. The fact that you build communities so easily is a great human strength. Your first encountered the Alpha Centaurans, and embraced them as brothers almost immediately. Then it was the Vulcans, when the UNS Amity rescued a Vulcan ship in distress, and you quickly made them your friends as well. The fact that you did not vaporize the Tellar trader ship that coasted into orbit and declared that Earth belonged to them, is a testament that Earth and Federation is nothing like any other species we've ever encountered. Most species we've encountered shoot first and ask questions later. Humans are curiously curious."

Picard smiled, "We have not always been so." He gestured for the smaller woman to exit the cell. "We are a species that is growing and trying to learn to get along in the galaxy without killing everything we meet. There was a time in our history though, and some of it was not so distant, when we did shoot first and ask questions later. But I think we're getting beyond that now." He grinned at her and added, "And the fact that we might be confusing the Founders is an added benefit to both sides. Species that always get what they want, many times stagnate and crumble. We learn by struggling."

"You are too gracious," the Founder told him. He indicated Commanders Tuvok and Greenbough. "This is Commander Greenbough, my first officer." He then gestured toward the vulcan beside him, "And my chief of security, Commander Tuvok."

Commander Greenbough with his usual economy of movement simply nodded to the woman and said, "Ma'am." Commander Tuvok followed suit.

"Commander Greenbough?" the Founder asked. "You wouldn't happen to be the same Commander Greenbough who defended Starbase 1 during the war?"

"The one and the same ma'am," he said.

"The Jem' Hedar all are convinced that you are at least ten feet tall and are disruptor proof," she said.

Greenbough blushed slightly and said, "I do my best ma'am."

"I'm sure you do, Commander," she told him as they all followed Jean-Luc out of the brig.


	8. Double Duty

Ensign T'Lear escorted the Founder into the Leading Edge. She was unsure as to why the Captain would have assigned her as a cultural advisor to the founder, but he had done so. The being was capable of taking any form it wished, but for some reason had chosen a female form, and had indicated to T'Lear that she should call her Varin.  
"This is the Leading Edge. It is the ship's officer's' lounge and recreation area," T'Lear told her.

"Not something as a Vulcan that you would see a lot of use for," Varin said.

"On the contrary," T'Lear told her. "I come here quite often. I have dinner with Dr. Seizemore and we discuss many subjects. I also participate in comparative cultural discussions with Commanders Greenbough and Tuvok."

"I would have thought as a Vulcan you wold be more interested in the hard sciences," Varin said.

T'Lear shook her head, "Not all of Vulcan is dedicated to the so-called hard sciences. The arts are valued as well. My father was a scientist on another starship named _Enterprise _long ago. My mother served at helm as I now do, and she is still at Starfleet Command. My older brother, Sorev is the pure researcher that my grandfather had wanted my father to be. My interests lie in the social sciences, anthropology, archeology, and sociology, but I do have a strong grounding in math- as any flight control officer would."

"And languages as well?" the founder asked.

"You are very well informed. I speak several languages- all three major Vulcan dialects, Terran English, German, Latin, Ancient Greek, and Old Norse, as well as three dialects of Rihansu."

"You should be a diplomat," the Varin told her.

T'Lear shook her head, "No, that is my father's and my grandfather's area of expertise. I much prefer my studies and the chances for raw exploration that the_ Enterprise_ offers."

"That in itself is a form of diplomacy," Varin said. "Even now, you are acting as an ambassador for your captain and for the Federation."  
"I did not say that I was incapable of acting as a diplomat, Ms. Varin" T'Lear told her, "only that I prefer my studies to that particular duty."  
"Then I am honored that you would take time from your studies to act as my diplomat," Varin told her.  
T'Lear was unsure if the founder was attempting to be sarcastic or not, so she simply let the implication slide. As her father was fond of saying: _If none is taken, then there is no insult._ Of course he had had many more years of experience in dealing with the more emotional species in the Federation than she. She simply guided the woman to one of the tables and indicated that she should sit.  
Varin complied and managed to hide her surprise when the table generated a menu on the smooth surface. "What would you desire?" T'Lear asked.  
"What would you suggest?" Varin countered.  
"Being as I am unaware of founder dietary requirements and cultural directives, I am unable to make an appropriate suggestion without hazarding offense."  
Varin smiled, "I have few dietary restrictions, and I promise not to be offended by whatever you might suggest."  
T'Lear nodded and looked over the menu. At first, she was tempted to suggest a Vulcan dish, but decided that perhaps something from Earth would be more appropriate. "Dr. Seizemore is rather fond of the K'tarian chicken salad with fruit and southern iced tea."  
"That sounds like it would be rather tasty," Varin replied. "I'll have that." T'Lear placed the order, and added her own before turning back to her charge who asked, "What was that you ordered, bimbimbap?"  
"It's a Terran dish native to Asia. It consists of rice with vegetables and a spicy bean sauce. I discovered that I liked it while I was at Starfleet Academy."  
"Ah, that's right. Vulcan's are vegetarians by nature."  
T'Lear nodded, "By choice, not by nature. One of the tenants of Surak is that if a being must take a life to survive, then take the life that is least likely to notice it is being taken. Vulcan physiology is fully capable of digesting meat, but we choose not to do so- many find it very repugnant."  
"I was unaware of that," Varin told her.

"And what of your Commander Greenbough?," Varin asked. "I find it difficult to believe a man of that mass survives mainly on vegetables?"

T'Lear raised a Vulcan eyebrow, "Why would think that Commander Greenbough was a vegetarian?"

"He studied on Vulcan for several years," the founder replied. "I would assume that he adapted culturally."

T'Lear straightened her tunic. She did not understand why, but this discussion of Commander Greenbough made her uncomfortable. She resolved to spend some extra time in meditation this evening to sort out the nature of the disturbance. "I have not asked the Commander how he adapted to Vulcan when he was teaching on my home world. I did not know him then. I know now that he is not a practicing vegetarian. I believe the term he used to describe himself was a "dedicated carnivore".

Varin smiled as the table delivered their meals. "You know, he really is a legend among the Jem' Hedar. He fought them on their own terms and beat them en mass. It takes a lot to impress the Jem' Hedar. They are bred warriors and are totally dedicated to winning any engagement, no matter what the cost. Your Commander Greenbough met and defeated them at every turn. If it had not been for him, Starbase 1 would have fallen."

T'Lear considered what Varin was telling her. She was unsure if the woman was "fishing" for information, was trying to make small talk, or if she had some other goal. "I have only recently met the Commander. He is somewhat above my social circle as far as Star Fleet Officers are concerned."

"Yet you meet with both he and Commander Tuvok to discuss comparative anthropology," Varin said as she tasted her food. Evidently finding it to her liking, she continued to eat as well as carry on the conversation.

"That is not truly a social engagement, but more of an intellectual one," T'Lear countered.

"So you find him intellectually stimulating?" Varin asked.

"He has a remarkable mind," T'Lear said.

"For a human?" Varin asked.

"For anyone," T'Lear countered. "I do not divide my friends nor my colleagues into racial groups. I see them as individual personalities. Commander Greenbough has a keen mind for a member of any race. He has some unique perspectives that I find to be refreshing in its honest approach to life both in Starfleet and the Federation."

"And the packaging for that mind is rather pleasant to look at," Varin countered. T'Lear understood now. She was attempting to draw a spurious conclusion. "He does have a certain reputation as well you know."

"I don't understand," T'Lear replied.

"Reputation for other activities. I think they call it a Kirk style," Varin said. "There is a suggestion that he even spent the evening with a Romulan security officer, recently."

"It is inappropriate for me to speculate on the sexual conquests of a superior officer," T'Lear told her, hoping that she would get the hint.

Varin smiled at her and said, "Of course. Always the officer and the gentleman."

Remembering a quote from her father she replied, "Consider it the disciplines of the service." She tasted her own food and found the mixture for the bean spice to be nearly perfect. "I am curious. How is it that the Empire has been able to hold off the Dominion for two centuries? In our battles with you, you had a significant advantage of both resources and technology."

"Yet you were still able to defeat us," Varin said.

"We created a situation where your losses became unacceptable," T'Lear told him. "Both Earth and Vulcan have a tradition of refusing to live in subjugation."

Varin nodded and smiled, "Then the Empire is living up to those traditions as well. To be honest, we have difficulty penetrating their space. They have very good sensors, and the few founders that have returned from their espionage missions have had little to no memory of their time spent in imperial space."

"I was under the impression that founders were immune to most mental manipulations."

"We are," Varin told her. "However, we are at a complete loss to explain how the Empire is able to detect us, much less manipulate our memories. If my mission is successful, I'll be the first of my people to return with any cultural data on the Empire in two hundred years."

"You could always just ask them," T'Lear said. "They've indicated that they would be willing to trade with you, to live in peace alongside you. Why do you need to control them?"  
"What you control, cannot hurt you," Varin said. It sounded like an old quote to T'Lear- one with a cultural significance.

"But the Empire has demonstrated that they have no desire to take what is yours, or even to expand their conflict with you beyond their borders. Why continue a war that you cannot win, and that only wastes resources. Suing for peace would seem logical."

Varin chuckled, and smiled over her glass of iced tea, "Logical, but impractical. If our other client species see us as unable to control one small Empire on the edge of our space, then they may decide to rebel."

T'Lear again raised and eyebrow, "It would seem then that the Dominion needs to either win the war, or alter its relationship with its clients, or it is doomed to collapse. History is full of examples of governments like your Dominion falling when the peoples they control realize that they can better rule themselves."

Varin set her fork onto the table and gave T'Lear a long hard look, "Are you trying to be insulting? The Dominion has stood for seven thousand years. That's before even Surak walked the face of Vulcan, before the Exodus that gave rise to the Romulans."  
T'Lear shook her head and said, "It was not my intention to be neither insulting nor provocative. I was simply stating an historical fact. Oppressive regimes only last as long as they can maintain force, fear or both. Once it becomes clear that the conquering peoples are not unconquerable themselves, then the regime is doomed to failure. It would seem to me that the Empire's Babylon Station is a far greater threat to the Dominion than a whole fleet of ships like the _Thunderbird_."  
"I'm not sure I follow you," the founder replied.  
"The Babylon Station represents a group of people who have thus far resisted all attempts to force them into the Dominion. They are successful, and free, and they trade with the Dominion races and you gain little to nothing from it other than whatever tax revenue it generates. You told Captain Picard that you felt that the Transentient Empire was in many ways superior to the Federation. The same can be said for their superiority to the Dominion. You cannot touch them and they _choose_ not to touch you."  
"Care for an alliance?" Varin said with a smile.  
T'Lear had not spent the last four years in the company of humans to not recognize an attempt however weak it was at humor. She did however choose not recognize it. "That is what we are currently attempting to achieve. The Federation would always prefer to have friends than enemies."  
"I meant against the Transentient Empire," Varin said. "Humor and Vulcans seem to be mutually exclusive terms."  
"I am aware of your meaning, Varin," T'Lear told her. "However, it is important to note that we and most of the Alpha and Beta Quadrants just finished fighting a war with you where hundreds of thousands of people died. The Transentient Empire evidently also helped us without our knowledge. Somehow I think it would be a poor repayment of the debt to make an alliance with you without first discussing it with them. They after all asked, you tried to conquer. Besides, I am only an Ensign in Starfleet. I do not have the authority to create interstellar alliances."

Varin smiled, "An Ensign whose parents are the heads of the House of Surak. Do not sell yourself short, Ensign T'Lear. Whether you like it or not, you are an ambassador and a diplomat. Your father brought peace with the Romulans, and you may yet bring peace with the Dominion."

T'Lear raised an eyebrow but showed no other indication of surprise, "You are well informed, Ms. Varin. However, if you know who my parents are, then you should also know that my family members have a history of going against the grain of tradition. My grandfather married a human, my father entered Starfleet against my grandfather's rather strong objections. Both have stood against and even coerced the Vulcan High Council at times, but I have yet to determine if I will blaze any new trails or not. Influencing my parents' positions on any matter involving Federation policy however, is not likely to be among them."

Varin smiled and returned to her meal. "Are there likely to be any more meetings with the Imperial officers from the _Thunderbird_?" she asked into her tea.

"I do not know. However, considering how secretive the Empire is toward the founders I suspect not. I would not be surprised if Captain Plainwalker has ordered his officers to keep contact with _Enterprise_ personnel to a minimum until we arrive at Babylon Station," she told her.

"And how long will that take?"

"Twenty-seven hours six minutes from now," T'Lear told her.

After dinner and the tour of the _Enterprise, _T'Lear turned the duties of escorting the founder over to Commander Tuvok and took up her station on the bridge. It was well into third shift when she arrived and therefore Commander Greenbough's watch. As she entered the bridge and and relieved Lieutenant Tarcek, she nodded to the Con.

"And how was your dinner with our visitor, Ensign?" Commander Greenbough asked.

"Without incident, Commander," she told him.

"Good," the first officer replied with a smile.

"I realize that you've been on duty in one capacity or another for the past sixteen hours, Ensign so I hesitate to ask. But Lieutenant Windham on the _Thunderbird_ has asked for the input of the ship's sociology department. Your file indicates that you have advanced degrees in both sociology and anthropology, I was wondering if you might lend him a hand."

T'Lear raised an eyebrow at the request. It was reasonable and although she was a junior officer, her expertise in the areas was not without merit. "I will endeavor to do be of any help I can, sir."

Commander Greenbough nodded and said, "Very well. Call your relief and transport over to the _Thunderbird_."

"Sir?" she asked in some confusion.

Commander Greenbough smiled and repeated, "As soon as your relief arrives, you are to transport over to the _Thunderbird_. Lieutenant Windham has some questions for you, and maybe between the two of you, you can head off any cultural misunderstandings."

"I would highly doubt it sir," she replied as she hit the request for Lieutenant Severs to come and take her place on the bridge. Although, technically, there really wasn't a need for a flight control officer while they were at cruising speed, they were in potentially hostile territory and the helm had to be manned at all times. "Negotiations between new species are frequently rife with misunderstandings. The signs of a truly advanced species is one that can work through them instead of resorting to violence."

Commander Greenbough smiled and said, "Well, maybe you kids can do what us adults have never been able to do."

That was the kind of humor that she'd come to expect from the Commander. Usually with a positive spin that would challenge the person to excel, instead of placing the emphasis on failure. It was something she genuinely appreciated about the man. She also noted that Varin had been correct. The packaging was pleasant to look at- even the rich copper beard.

Nine minutes fifty-three seconds later she was in the transporter room awaiting acknowledgment from the _Thunderbird_. The transporter technician looked up and said, "Ma'am, there's a message from Lieutenant Windham. He wants to know if you would prefer to use the_ Enterprise's_ transporters, or the _Thunderbird's_. He says he would prefer to speak to the person he met at dinner instead of a facsimile of her.

T'Lear considered the message. It actually told her a great deal about the society of the Empire. She looked over at the technician and said, "Tell the _Thunderbird_ that I would be honored to use their transporters. Alert the bridge that we will be allowing the Empire to access Federation space with their transporters."

"Yes, ma'am," he replied and sent the message to the bridge. "Transporter contact with the _Thunderbird_ in three seconds from my mark- mark."

Exactly three seconds from the technician's mark, space above the pad seemed to open up. On the other side of the rift, she could see the transporter room of the other ship. A rather excited looking Lieutenant awaited her.

She stepped through the rift and felt a slight shift in gravity, and a change in the air pressure. This was a radically different form of transporter technology than what had been developed by the Federation. Transporters in the Federation were based on replicator technology, or more accurately the other way around. It broke matter down at the transport point and dispersed it. It gathered molecules at the arrival point and rearranged them into the same pattern as at the transport point. Imperial transporters on the other hand appeared to warp space between the points to allow the original molecules to pass through the warp.

"Welcome to the _Thunderbird_ Lieutenant Windham said gesturing behind him.

"Thank you," T'Lear replied. "What is the nature of the assistance you require?" she asked.

He smiled again, "I have some cultural issues that probably should be addressed before we reach Babylon Station. The captain thinks that someone from a warrior culture would be most likely help us explain them to your captain."

"I don't understand," she said. "Vulcan does not have a reputation for being anything but a peaceful civilization."

"Vulcan is a warrior species that has never known a conqueror. You practice peace with the same zeal that you practice war- efficiently and with an eye toward victory. I would say that you qualify."

"You obviously have me at a disadvantage," T'Lear said. "You know far more of my people than I know of yours."

The young officer smiled and said, "Not true. You just don't know how much of us you know. You've been fed a steady diet of our culture since you were a little girl." He gestured toward the door and said. "You said it yourself. You've read Hale and Griffin, Heinlein, and Claremont. They are our culture."

T'Lear followed Windham out of the transporter room into a long hallway. Crew and officers alike were moving along the corridor going about the general business of running a starship. It was not so unlike the atmosphere aboard the _Enterprise_. He led her to a turbo lift and said, "Conference room three, please."

T'Lear raised an eyebrow. She was not in the habit of being polite to machines, and it struck her as odd that the Empire would be. "Exactly what kind of issues do you have that you are concerned about the crew of the Enterprise not understanding?"

Like an overgrown school-boy, Windham said, "Most of it has to do with our uses of genetic reprogramming. To be honest, we've seen how Earth treats genetically altered humans, and it's not pleasant."

"Earth does have a certain unpleasant history with its augments. It even infected the Klingons. They are understandably wary."

He nodded and led her into a large briefing room with a low table. Several other officers and crewmen were going about their duties and acknowledged them as they came in. An older man looked up at Windham and said, "The data you requested is on your computer, sir."

"Thank you, Evans," he told the man.

"It was a problem they created in an attempt to deal with us- and most of them weren't the ones responsible for it. It was a UN project that got out of hand."

"The old records dispute that, but the new data supports it," she said.

"I wouldn't expect the UN to admit to its wrong doings if the whole world depended on it. It was a nest of vipers who were not out to make the world better, but instead to make sure that nobody was better than anyone else," he said with a vehemence that T'Lear could feel through her own psionic shields.

"I am not attempting to debate the merits of the organization as your family may have known them. I am simply stating the facts as they've been presented to me," T'Lear told him.

He nodded, "Understood." Almost immediately the pressure against her shields subsided.

"You are a passionate people," she commented.

"Some of us more than others," he said.

"I don't understand," she said unsure whether or not the young man was making a pass at her since he was not looking directly at her, but instead at the data tank that had appeared in front of him.

"Fascinating," he said.

"You sound like my father," she said.

He smiled over at her. "I'll take that as a compliment."

"It was intended as such. However, I'm curious as to what evoked such a response," she said.

He looked up, "It's a sociological projection of various outcomes of different solutions to the Dominion Conflict."

"And what caught your attention?" T'Lear asked.

"It would seem that our contact with the Federation has given several outlying projections a significant statistical shift into the norm."  
"Clarify," T'Lear said.  
He turned and smiled at her. "The Imperial War College on Thule Prime has been running the projections for future contact with the Federation through one of our computers to guide us in our decision making process."  
T'Lear had heard of computer technology capable doing those kinds of calculations, but very few in the Federation had that kind of power. Usually when one like that was built, it would "wake up" and then there would be a political discussion on the use of AIs and their rights inside the Federation. "And what are the projections?'  
He shook his head, "If we follow normal procedure in this situation then the conflict with the Dominion is likely to escalate into a 40 year shooting war with 60% of the battle casualties being on our side, but a total annihilation of the Founders as a species. What would follow would be a period of chaos and massive disruption of the lives of hundreds of billions of the inhabitants of the Gamma Quadrant, and quite possibly the Borg coming in to fill the power vacuum."


	9. Fudge: A Measure of Civilization?

T'Lear listened as Lieutenant Windham explained the readouts. Evidently the Empire used computers to run complex social models to predict the outcomes of various political decisions. It was a form of complex programming that scientist in the Federation had played around with over the last hundred years or so, but had never really mastered. "How accurate are your models?" she asked.

The young human looked over at her through the red hair hanging in his face and said, "They're usually fairly accurate for making generalized predictions within the Empire itself. They are however less so when trying to predict all variables of negotiations with even a single known quantity like the Dominion. Add in the second variable of the Federation, and I'd say they're going to be no more accurate than any other particular expert in diplomacy."  
T'Lear nodded and wondered about that. There were so many variables in the situation that just getting that particular level of accuracy was an impressive feat in of itself. "And how familiar are you with diplomatic experts?" she asked.

The young man shrugged and smiled, "One of my parents is a diplomat. I'm told that my grandparents were diplomats, but were killed in a terrorist attack toward the end of the Twentieth Century."

"Are you yourself interested in diplomacy?" she asked.

Windham shook his head, "No, not really. I'm more interested in my studies. I'm an historian and an anthropologist by training. I'm more interested in how our culture is evolving. We are a hodgepodge of disaffected Terran races that have managed to hammer out a system that works pretty well. But I wonder how well, we'd get along if we didn't have the Dominion knocking on our doors. In an ironic way, I think the Dominion's attacks have managed to be more effective in binding us together than they were ever destructive."

"How so?" T'Lear asked genuinely interested.

"We may argue and fight among ourselves- political debate in the Empire can be vigorous to say the least- but when mains come online, we pull together to fight the common foe. In this case, that's the Dominion." He said with a smile.

"Much of the same can be said about the Federation. For years, there was a lot of political maneuvering between Earth and Vulcan, even with my grandparent's marriage. Each had a separate concept of what the Federation should be, and Starfleet was at times at the center of the debate. But, to acknowledge your analogy, when things were difficult, we came together as one government and protected each other."

"We were under the impression that the Federation was pretty monolithic. That is one of our main concerns. We have worked hard to get to where we are, and do not wish to be absorbed into a Federation that will try to change us, to make us fit it's concept of what civilization should be."

"The Prime Directive prevents that," she said.

"Really?" Windham asked. "I look at the Federation and see one system that punishes those would excel. It works to bring down the exceptional instead of lifting everyone."

"Please explain," T'Lear asked. Perhaps if she could ascertain the origins of the Empire's misgivings about the Federation, she and Lieutenant Windham really could make their captains' jobs easier.

"Look at Commander Greenbough's history. Earth's government seized his family's lands and fortunes in order to redistribute them to everyone. Nobody is allowed to generate large sums of wealth for themselves. What is the purpose for hard work if you can't get ahead because of it?"

"The Federation likes to think that the betterment of oneself is impetus enough. Besides, replicator technology has made the production of goods and services so ubiquitous that we don't need manufacturing corporations anymore. The government can more efficiently manage large scale production," T'Lear countered.

Windham raised an eyebrow and said, "We have found that when the individual has something to strive against or for, then it improves not only his or her lot in life, but society as a whole. Our economy is vigorous and strong." He grinned and asked, "Could your Federation's economy handle being on a war footing for 200 plus years?"

"No," she shook her head. "Resources are at a premium right now, and we're going through a economic depression trying to recover."

"We manage to protect the right of the individual to generate wealth even with the presence of replicator technology. Lady Tethys's, the diplomat you're meeting at Babylon Station, has managed to generate quite a fortune for herself and her house," he told her.

"Explain," T'Lear said. This was a genuine puzzle. Vulcan had managed to do something similar, but that was only through the use of the clan system that was so arcane that it confused most outsiders.

He gestured toward the door and said, "Why don't I show you instead. Let me introduce you to the _Thunderbird _ and its crewm and you can see how our system works. There is a minimum standard of living in the Empire- even for subjects- and it is comparable to that of the richest of Federation planets- but at the same time there is great wealth generated by individuals."

"What do you mean by subjects?" T'Lear asked following him out into the corridor.

"We have three classes of citizens, in the Empire: subjects, citizens, and nobles. Everyone is born a with a minimum set of rights- Freedom of religion, freedom of expression, freedom from illegal search and seizure- the same kind of things that are found in the Federation Charter. But, with rights come responsibilities. If an individual wants to participate in the body politic, if they want to hold office, or even vote for that matter, then they must become a citizen. They must move from the protected class to the protector class."

"They must join the military?" T'Lear asked.

Windham raised an eyebrow and continued, "That's one path to citizenship, one of the fastest. A four year stint in either the Imperial Star Navy or the Imperial Ground Forces is guaranteed citizenship. Six years of public service in the emergency services or eight years of general public service are also automatic citizenship. Outstanding service to the Empire can also result in citizenship being granted by Imperial Council."

"Such service is usually reserved for heroic acts I would assume," T'Lear asked.  
Windham smiled, "Depends on how you define heroic acts. About seventy five years ago, there was an eighteen year old boy who received an Imperial Appointment because of a family fudge recipe he patented and uploaded to the replicator service when he was fourteen. You see, my mothers take their chocolate very seriously."

"Fudge?" "T'Lear asked, "As in the Terran confection?"

"Oh yes. He made a fortune off that recipe."

"If it was a family recipe, I don't see how he could have made money off it, especially if he uploaded it to the replicator databank."

"Ah, that's where the difference in our civilizations stand out. Anybody can access the general fudge recipe on the replicators and get a fairly good approximation of fudge. However, if you want his fudge, you have to pay a small royalty to him. It's not much, but in an economy of 36 billion souls, it adds up pretty quickly," he said as he gestured toward a door marked

"Officers Galley".

The room was rather large and there were several tables and chairs sitting in various configurations. A surprising variety of humans were sitting at the tables and speaking quietly with each other, watching holovids on the table, or simply eating. Lieutenant Commander Vovarasky with her striking blue hair caught T'Lear's attention. Her uniform was different from the one she wore aboard the _Enterprise _in that the top was little more than a bra, to make room for the folds of flesh that ran down the backs of her arms to connect to her back as some sort of glider wing. The skirt was extremely short and reminded her of the old Twenty-third Century starfleet uniforms. She was eating a plate of bread, and watching some kind of sporting event on the holovid which consisted of anthropomorphic cats and wolves tearing across a playing field with an ovoid ball. As if she sensed the attention, she looked up from one particular bone-crunching clash, and smiled at her and waved to Lieutenant Windham. "Hello, Stefan." She nodded to T'Lear and said, "Ms. T'Lear."

"Hello, Lieutenant Commander," T'Lear said. "May I inquire without giving offense as to what you were watching?"

The woman smiled and said, "Highlights from the Imperial Furball Playoffs. I'm a big Razor's fan, and the fact that Junior Williams was hurt was what cost us the title."

"Us?" T'Lear asked. "Do you play?"

She shook her head, "No. I'm just a big fan. I probably should buy stock in the company considering how much money I spend on licensed merchandise."

T'Lear nodded. "Stefan showing you around the ship?" she asked. There was a wariness to her question but no overt threat.

T'Lear nodded, "He wanted me to see some of the ship and meet a cross-reference of its compliment to better understand your class system."

"Well, everyone on the ship is either, a noble, a citizen, or on the citizen track. It's the nature of the beast. Service in the ISN comes with a paycheck and citizenship," she said.

"He told me this," T'Lear said. "But didn't tell me that there were only citizens, nobles, and those becoming citizens, but I should have ascertained that from the information that he did give me."

"Would you like to sit down and join me?" Lieutenant Commander Vovarasky asked.

"Actually, I was going to introduce the Ensign to _Berlie's Fudge_," Stefan said sitting down with the Lieutenant Commander and gesturing for T'Lear to do so as well.

The woman smiled and replied, "Ah, bringing in the heavy guns."

"I don't understand, I thought it was fudge we were discussing. A simple human confection of sugar, milk, and various other ingredients," T'Lear said pulling at the proffered chair. It did not move.

"You have to pull the release to disengage the gravity compensators," Lieutenant Windham said indicating a a lever at the top of the back of the chair. "It keeps the chair tied to the floor during high stress turns and battle maneuvers in case the inertial dampeners fail."

T'Lear did as was indicated and felt the chair come free from the floor. She said, "Facinating."

"It's a figure of speech, Ensign," Windham told her. "Berlie's Fudge is just one of the best things the Empire has to offer."

T'Lear raised an eyebrow and asked, "You have a society capable of transporting through your enemies' deflector shields, you can stellarform whole star systems, and you consider fudge your greatest export?"

Windham smiled and said, "Of course. Any society can invent technology, but it takes a civilization to invent something like fudge."

"That is a rather interesting point of view," T'Lear said raising an eyebrow. "You see cultural, in this case culinary arts, as being more powerful than technological strength."

"Technology has its place Ensign," Lieutenant Commander Vovarasky said. "But it does not define a culture. It only aids in expressing it."

"I tend to agree with you, Lieutenant Commander. I'm just surprised to hear it from a civilization that has been at war for the past two hundred Terran years."

"We are not a warlike people, Ensign," Lieutenant Windham said as touched the pad on the table and called up menu. He placed an order and the table generated the desired confection.

He took the small bowl of confection and a pair of chopsticks and offered it to her, "I've heard a rumor that Vulcans don't food with their hands."

She shook her head. "There are some cultural taboos that involvement with the Federation over the past few hundred years have worn away. That is one in particular I'm glad to see gone. It served no real purpose any more." She took a piece of the offered food between her fingers and tasted it gingerly. The lieutenant was correct. It was a very delicious piece of confection, possibly the best she'd ever tasted. "That is indeed quite delicious, sir."

"Please, call me Stefan."

She looked at him and raised an eyebrow. "Then please refer to me as T'Lear when appropriate." She felt something brush against her mind shields. "May I ask a question?"

"Of course," Stefan said.

"I just felt something touch my psi shields. Are either one of you a telepath?"

The both looked at each other and shook their head. "Commander Vovarasky is a Defender, they are generally not telepaths. My mother is an empath, and my father a very powerful telepath, but outside of the minimum level required for a Pride bond, I'm psi-null. Maybe it was the ship's mind song you were detecting?" he offered.

"The psionic network that Dr. Jarn detected?" she asked.

Stefan nodded. "Possibly?" he asked. "I don't know enough about psionics to be able to tell you. Lieutenant Steele would be able to help you with that. Was it an intrusion?"

She shook her head, "No, it was simply a touch. I am at a loss to describe it." Actually, she had once experienced something similar to it when she'd attended the "bonding ceremony" of a family friend. The bonding had not gone well, and the healer T'Mir had been required to assist in the procedure. She remembered the brush of one of the bondees reaching out to touch her shields searcing for his betrothed. It had been unsettling then. Now it was strangely curious.

"You mentioned something called a Pride Bond. Can you elaborate?" Then remembering her own cultural taboos, she quickly added. "If it would not be be a socially unacceptable question that is."

The other two officers looked at each other. Lietentant Commander Vovarasky shrugged and said, "Not my tradition. You handle this one little cat."

_Little Cat?_ That was the meaning of her mother's name in the language of the Romulans.

Stefan smiled and shook his head, "Pride bonds are marriage bonds among certain groups of my people. They represent very deep bond between the members of an established pride. It was one of those areas where we had disagreements with our governments back home. That one at least has been reconciled and I don't see any cultural clashes coming from those and the Federation."

T'Lear nodded. "They are like the marriage bond between Vulcans then?"

Stefan shook his head, "I don't know. I'm only vaguely familiar with those bonds. I would think so though."

"Not something that is generally discussed in polite company?" she asked.

"No more than discussing the state of a particular marriage. It can be done on a clinical level, and even on a social level, but great care is usually given for issues of sensitivity." He smiled over his own fudge, "You don't want to be accused of being a gossip."

T'Lear nodded. "It is much the same on Vulcan. We are not so different that we cannot find common ground, I think."

Again the two officers exchanged glances, "If we can overcome the Federation's reticence about genetic augmentation, I think you may be right."

T'Lear nodded, "It is not so much the Federation's reticence as it is Earth's. Many cultures have practiced genetic augmentation on a limited level. Earth just carried it to an extreme and fought a war over it."

"I understand. It's something that is very important to us. It is a way of leveling the playing field for many of us," he said.

"To give those who are not gifted with the genetic anomalies that were used to defend Earth by your "Watchers" a chance to compete in your society?" she asked.

"Something like that. But to tell you the truth, fewer and fewer baselines are being born each year. We're slowly losing the need to for it. Many times, the lack of the Enhancer gene is corrected while the child is still in the womb."

"And that is what is going to be the area of discontent with the Federation. Our laws against those kinds of genetic adjustments."

Stefan smiled, "You can see our reticence when dealing with you. We consider the Enhancer gene our birthright."


	10. Babylon Station

Legacy of Force Chapter 10

Captain's Log Stardate 238608.22

_Enterprise_ is en route to the Transentient Empire's Babylon Station under the escort of their heavy warship _TMS_ _Thunderbird_. Our talks with the Empire have been promising so far, and I look forward to seeing their homeworld. The glimpses of the culture, civilization, and technology we have seen so far has been astounding to say the least. Still there are social concerns. The Empire seems very wary of Federation interference in its economic and social constructs. They have been practicing genetic engineering with what was described as a gleeful abandon for the past two hundred plus years. This is a practice that makes many in the Federation wary after our experiences with the Eugenics Wars and the Augments...

Jean-Luc felt Q's presence the second he entered his ready room. "Jean-Luc old friend, you must tread lightly, here," the familiar face wearing a Starfleet Admiral's uniform commented.

"Q! I was wondering when you might show up," Doctor Crusher muttered from her seat to Jean-Luc's left. Doctors Crusher and Jarn had just arrived to discuss their findings from the data exchange with the _Thunderbird_ brought back by Ensign T'Lear.

Q cocked an eyebrow in her direction and asked, "Are we becoming prescient Doctor Crusher?"

Beverly shook her head and replied, "No. It just seems like the kind of mission you'd interfere with, Q."

"You wound me, Doctor," Q replied in that nauseatingly superior tone of his. "I merely come to warn you that you should be very careful around this particular species of humans."

"Why is that, Q?" Captain Picard asked. "Because they've seen fit to issue an execution warrant for you?" To be honest with himself, Jean-Luc was uncomfortable with the concept of dealing with a civilization that still practiced the death penalty.

"I am curious as to how Q feels about this particular species," Doctor Jarn asked.

"You've replaced the counselor?" Q asked. "It would seem you traded up in power, but down in other areas." Q commented giving the counselor an appraising leer.

"This is Doctor Jarn," Jean-Luc told him.

Q ignored the introduction and turned back to Captain Picard saying, "I am here as favor to an old friend, Jean-Luc. Nothing more. I'm simply trying to warn you that this Transentient Empire holds far more danger to you than even the Borg."

Captain Picard nodded his head and said, "They told me that you dropped a Borg cube on them, and that a quarter of a million of their people died."

"How was I to know that the Shan biology would not react well with the Borg implants. The Shan disappeared from the galaxy millions of years ago," Q said. "They weren't supposed to still be around. Supposedly they died out during the Voth civil war."

"But they are here now, and they aren't happy with you Q," Picard told him. Then crossing his arms he said, "You're afraid of them. Why?"

"Because they don't play by the rules Captain," Q said almost petulantly as he strode to the large windows and looked out across at the _Thunderbird_.

Picard shook his head and demanded, "Explain."

"The Continuum has been watching the development of these people since before they fled your eugenics war. They are single minded in their devotion to concepts of religion, individuality, and family," Q said. "They cling to their outdated ideology, and refuse to participate in the galactic community as anything other than traders and observers."

Picard smiled and asked, "You are complaining because they refuse to interfere in the affairs of others? That's not like you, Q."

"They are a highly advanced people, Jean-Luc, with powers and abilities beyond most of the other races in the galaxy. They aren't quite to on the same level of the Continuum, or the Organians, or even the Excalbians, but they are formidable, and yet they refuse to take their responsibilities seriously."

"What would those responsibilities be, Q?" Beverly asked. "Should they bounce starships into the range of a Borg cube to demonstrate their power? Should they involve other species in their internal wars? Should they act like the Continuum? If they bother you so much, then why not strip them of their powers?"

"Because they can't, Doctor," Dr. Jarn suggested. "Isn't that right Q?" he asked with a slight tilt of his head.

Q crossed his arms and replied, almost poutingly, "We tried. They are outside our realm of control somehow."

Jean-Luc chuckled, "How is it that the Continuum can strip one of their own of their powers, imprison another in a comet, or grant non-Q similar powers as their own, but they can't affect one small empire of humans?"

"We don't know," Q said. "But we do know that they are terribly violent Jean-Luc. When they are threatened, their violence is a terrible thing." He rubbed his shoulder as if remembering something unpleasant.

"What power is it that they have, that scares you so Q?" Jean-Luc asked. "Is it that they know something you don't?"

"We know what we need to know," Q said defiantly.

"But we don't," Jean-Luc said. "I appreciate the warning Q. I really do, but we must proceed as we have. The Federation can ill afford new enemies."

Q smiled and said, "I've seen your ship. The Federation has been ill used over the last few decades. The average age of your command officers is in the high twenties, and your ship is one of the better staffed in the fleet. They're captains of Renaissance-class starships in their twenties, most of their crews are barely out of the academy. You've lost ships and personnel faster than you can replace them. Starfleet is becoming a children's club with the very old giving orders to the very young. You're making mistakes that your predecessors would have never made because you don't have the experience. You've fought the Cardassians, the Borg, the Dominion, the Tholians, the Grey in Briar Patch, and the Archiens in Romulan Space. You cannot afford to take on the Transentient Empire. If you should fail here, then the Federation would probably cease to exist."

"I am well aware of our limitations, Q," Jean-Luc told him. "And our situation." And of course he was right. Picard had seen the reports coming out of Starfleet. The shipyards were able to produce the ships, but the crews were getting younger and younger. The very life-blood of the Federation was flowing out of Starfleet, and the people back home were starting to take notice. If it had not been for the Romulans coming to the Federation's aid when the Tholians advanced on Alpha Centauri in order to distract Starfleet from the Briar Patch, then Earth probably would have fallen- in spite of the "Watchers" left behind by the Empire. "The Empire offers an ally of considerable power," he finally said.

"And their sentimental attachment to Earth is in your best interest as well."

"What do you know that I don't, Q?" Picard asked. "For once, just come out and tell me, what you are trying to say."

Q smiled and said, "Very well, Jean-Luc. The Empire is far more advanced than the Federation, but they are limited as well. They are working toward goal that astounds even the Continuum in its scope, and they themselves are dedicated to beings that are as confusing to us as we are to you."

"Dedicated to beings?" Beverly asked, "You mean like worship?"

"It's a primitive term, but it serves, Doctor Crusher."

"They're pagans," Jarn said. "They follow the mythology of ancient Earth. How is it that this threatens you? Those gods were beings much like the Q, visiting planets around the galaxy and feeding off the psychic energy of their worshipers."

"I never said that they threatened us, Counselor, I said they confuse us. They have great power, but use it sparingly, and they are not like us. They are quite different. It is very possible that they are older than the Continuum." This last was said with an air of someone taking a perverse joy in admitting a cultural taboo.

"Captain," Commander Greenbough's voice came over the intercom. "The _Thunderbird_ is hailing us. They want to know if there is a problem? They said that they were reading an energy spike onboard the _Enterprise_."

"Who was that?" Q asked.

"Commander Greenbough, my first officer. Will Riker is now captain of the _Titan_." He hit his com badge and said, "Commander Greenbough, please tell Fleet Captain Plainwalker that everything is under control."

He turned back to Q to find that he'd left the ready room. Looking over to Beverly and Doctor Jarn he asked, "Observations?"

"I never thought I'd see Q worried," Beverly said.

"How do you know that he was worried? I couldn't get a reading off of him," Doctor Jarn asked.

"We've had enough encounters with him that I can tell that something about this particular mission worries him. This isn't the usual case of the Q testing us. This is much more serious, they're worried about something. Also, he almost cringed when you mentioned Commander Greenbough" Beverly replied.

"And anything that worries the Q, is enough to worry me," Jean-Luc said. The door chimed. Picard looked toward it and said, "Enter."

Commander Greenbough strode in followed by a security detail, all with phasers drawn. The room suddenly seemed much smaller, "Captain Picard, Fleet Captain Plainwalker warned us that you might be in danger."

"We had a visit from Q," Picard said looking at his first officer and the security detail. "You can stand down."

Greenbough nodded tilted his head to the side holstered his phaser and said, "Sorry I missed him." He turned to the security detail and continued, "Stand down. Return to your posts." The two security officers nodded and left.

Picard smiled, "Don't worry Num… Commander. I'm glad to see that you're pro-active."

"Yes sir," he replied. "We're in potentially hostile space. It would not do for me to lose my captain from his own ready room. Fleet frowns on that kind of thing. Ensign T'Lear confirmed the energy spike in your ready room, so I decided to check things out for myself."

"And a little precaution is never a bad thing," Beverly said.

"If you will excuse me," Commander Greenbough nodded to the Captain, "I'll return to my duties."

"Of course, Commander," Picard nodded as the huge red haired man exited the room.

Turning around, he noticed that Doctor Jarn was somewhat pale. "Is there anything wrong, Doctor?"

Doctor Jarn swallowed and Jean-Luc could see genuine fear in the man's eyes. "There was a terrible potential for violence just now, Captain." He nodded toward the door and said, "That man came in here with the intent to kill anything attacking this ship or its crew. I have never encountered that kind of potential for violence in a human before."

"Explain yourself, Doctor," Picard said. "Are you saying that he is a danger to the crew?"

Doctor Jarn shook his head, "I'd say that man was a danger to anyone or anything threatening the crew or the ship. Not even the Klingons engender that kind of fury in full battle mode."

"Yet he seemed so calm," Beverly said.

"That is what frightens me. He was calm, but there's something lurking just below the surface. Something dangerous, something deadly, and something very powerful, Captain."

"What have your counseling sessions with him revealed, Doctor?" Picard asked.

"He seems to be a very well rounded officer, sir. I haven't done a mind scan of him, as he some pretty effective mind screens of his own. Since Commander Tuvok told me that the he'd studied on Vulcan I assumed he'd picked up the ability to shield his thoughts there."

"I don't understand Doctor," Picard said.

"Vulcans are touch-telepaths sir, but strong emotions can leak out and affect even them. Many humans who study there, learn to keep their emotions under tight control, and to shield their thoughts from randomly bombarding their hosts.".

"Did you request to do a deeper scan?" Beverly asked.

"I didn't see a need to. The Commander has shown no signs of being psychologically or mentally unstable. His psych reviews from Starfleet have all come back fairly flat across the board. The usual elevations found in battle officers after the Dominion War, but nothing that stood out." The man shook his head

"Can you detect anything unusual from him now?"

Doctor Jarn closed his eyes and seemed to concentrate, "Nothing sir. He has retreated behind his shields again." He opened his eyes in surprise, "I am however detecting a great deal of traffic in the Imperial psi net. I would say as we grow closer to the Babylon Station, it will become much clearer."

Picard nodded. "Keep me informed on it. Have you been able to glean any more information from it?"

Jarn nodded, "There seems to be a whole new area of discussion about us on it. I haven't attempted to "join the conversation" but I can listen in. There's an intense debate on bringing the "Watchers" home. Also there's a public forum on how to integrate trade with the Federation regarding intellectual copyright laws and how they apply to replicator technology. Oh, and evidently Junior Williams has made a full recovery from his injury in the Imperial Furball Playoffs. The Razors are expected to have a good season next year," he said with a slight smile.

"Doctor, are you trying to be humorous?" Picard asked.

"No sir. I'm just unfamiliar with this psi-net and tend to get tossed around from one conversation to another. The recovery of this particular player takes up a significant portion of the conversation on the net. Some the minds involved are extremely powerful. Some of them are completely bypassing the Imperial relay stations, and are broadcasting directly into the net."

"I don't understand the analogy," Picard said.

"Imagine the _Enterprise_ bypassing the Federation subspace booster relays and transmitting its data directly to Starfleet Command at Star Base One- without burning out every other receiver between here and there."

"The power must be staggering," Beverly said.

"Doctor, some of the minds I'm getting a glimpse of are unbelievably powerful. They are carrying out tight beamed communications across interstellar distances without the aid of instrumentality."

"Could this be what has the Q so worried?" Picard asked.

"I don't know. I'm unaware of the Q's attitude toward psionic species."

"Very well, for now, just monitor this psi-net the best you can but don't try to make any contact. In the meantime, let's return to our discussion at hand."

"Commander Greenbough or the data brought back by T'Lear?

"The data; I am unconcerned for the moment about my first officer's penchant for violence. He seems to have it well under control, and channeled into healthy endeavors."

Both doctors nodded and Jean-Luc leaned back in his chair. He addressed Doctor Crusher first, "What is Starfleet Medical's likely reaction to a race that practices genetic engineering to the degree we've seen so far."

"They will be strictly forbidden from service in Starfleet. Regulations are very clear on that issue sir."

"Would we want to integrate them into Starfleet? Would they want to integrate for that matter?" Jarn asked. He shook his head and said, "I'm sorry Captain, but why would they want to join Starfleet. They have a perfectly good Imperial Navy that can stand against the Dominion for 200 plus years."

"What about travel in the Federation in general?" Picard asked.'

"Those with genetic enhancements would be required to register with the Federation Bureau of Security."

"What about allowances for cultural differences?" Jean-Luc suggested.

"I'm not sure Jean-Luc. There are several races who practice it on a minor level, but nothing like what we've seen here. I think that the source of the problem is not the genetic enhancements themselves, but a sense of fairness."

Jean-Luc was surprised to hear that. "Explain please, Doctor."

"Many of the laws were enacted to keep people from having their children enhanced to give them advantages over others when competing for scholarships and professional positions. It was felt that to keep the playing field level, that the enhancements should be outlawed."

"And the Imperial policy?"

"Is to allow people to make whatever genetic enhancements they can afford, and push those without enhancements to work that much harder."

"How has that worked for them?"

"I can't honestly say, Jean-Luc. The data we've been given may very well have been "sanitized" for our consumption."

"Captain, if I may," Doctor Jarn interrupted.

"Go ahead counselor."

"I don't think the data has been sanitized. If you look at it, they show about the same dropout rate for university as most Federation planets. They also show a very vigorous technical and trade training program. If you cross reference it with service in their Imperial Star Navy, and Ground Forces breakdown supplied, then you WILL see a pretty even distribution across the chart of what they call baselines and transentients. It would see that they compensated for the differences in ability with their rather unique social structure of nobles, citizens, and subjects."

"Genetic enhancements are of little use in earning citizenship. The number of years of service to earn citizenship is the same no matter what enhancements a person has or what their economic status is."

"So they've merged a meritocracy with both an aristocracy and egalitarianism?" Picard asked.

"It works for them, sir. I would say that Doctor Crusher's assessment of Federation policies is correct, but at the same time, they don't really apply to the Empire. They have approached us for diplomatic relations, not for membership. We don't expect the Ferengi, the Romulan, nor the Klingons to abide by our laws. I don't think we should expect the Empire to either."

"You raise a good point, Doctor…,"

"Bridge to Captain Picard…," Commander Greenbough's voice interrupted again.

"What is it Commander?"

"We are approaching Babylon Station now sir."

"On my way, Commander."

"Well, looks like this it, Doctors. We finally get to see the station that the Founder described as the thorn in the Dominion's side." He gestured toward the doorway.

Entering the bridge, Picard could sense the excitement. "Captain on the Bridge!" Command Greenbough said standing.

"Put it on the main viewer Commander."

"Aye aye, sir."

The scene on the screen shifted to a massive space station shaped like two mushrooms sitting column to column glittering like a bright blue and silver jewel in the night. Huge space doors not unlike the ones at Space Dock back at earth were on both "caps". "She's massive sir, over fifteen kilometers from top to bottom with a maximum diameter of 8 kilometers on each of her caps," Commander Greenbough said. Then his voice changed from one of awe to incredulity, "I don't believe it"

"What is it Commander?" Picard asked.

"Captain, that's the _Bloodwing_ sitting in parking orbit." He touched several controls, and the image of an old Romulan Winged Defender class starship came up on the screen- her feathers painted a deep green.

"_Bloodwing_?" Doctor Jarn asked.

"Empress Ael t'Rllallieu's ship. The one that disappeared in 2301 with the Empress aboard," he said.

"THE t'Rllallieu?" Beverly asked. "The one who went with Kirk to destroy Levaeri V, who rescued Admiral McCoy from ch'Rihan?" Beverly asked.

"The same, Doctor," Commander Greenbough confirmed. "Her battle tactics were required reading for the command program. She was brilliant!"

"You sound like an admirer," Captain Picard said sitting down. "Now what would that ship be doing here?"

"They're hailing us Captain,"

"Put it on the screen."

The main viewer flickered and small female vulcanoid with graying hair wavered into the existence. She was wearing the uniform of the Transentient Empire, but had an aura of great command about her. "Welcome to Babylon Station _Enterprise_. I am Admiral t'Rllallieu, The Imperial Homeworld had sent word that you are to be shown every courtesy."

Next to him, Picard felt Commander Greenbough stiffen. The woman on the screen smiled, "I would say that my image has surprised your first officer, Captain."

"What is it Commander Greenbough?" Picard asked.

Greenbough nodded to his captain and said, "With your permission, sir?" He then indicated the screen with his head.

"By all means, Commander. Just please, don't start an interstellar war."

The commander nodded, smiled and rose to his feet. He adjusted his tunic and then began to speak quickly in a very fluid sounding language. The woman on the screen smiled and exchanged greetings with him. Picard noticed that the word jolantru was nowhere to be heard.

"Well, Commander?"

"It would appear that we are addressing the former Rihannsu Empress, sir."

Picard turned to the screen and asked, "Is my first officer correct, madam?"

She smiled, "You're first officer is rather perceptive, and speaks the language rather well. Yes, he is correct, Captain Picard. My ship was attacked on the edge of Cardassian space and was thrown through a wormhole. We found our way here, and were surprised to find a non-Federation Terran colony at war with the Dominion. They made us an offer, and we've been here since."

"That was over eighty years ago, madam."

"Of course, Captain. Rihannsu are a long lived people," she said. "Now if you would beam over, I think we have much to discuss. The captain of the _Midgarth's Warder_ is waiting for you in my office. He has some things he wishes to discuss with you We have a bit of a problem we need to address before we proceed."

"Problem?" Picard asked not liking what he was hearing.

The admiral smiled. "Nothing serious, Captain. It's actually a family matter. As you know there were several families left behind on Earth when these people left the planet. Some were left as Watchers, others had different reasons for staying. A very high ranking family has requested a chance to speak with you in order to find a missing person. The captain of the _Midgarth's Warder_ is the representative of that family. He will fill you in on the details when you come aboard. To be completely honest, tracing a family history in this Empire is like navigating a wormhole with a slide rule and a calculator. It can be done, but it puts a great deal of stress on the patience of the navigator."

Picard smiled and nodded, "I'll beam over at your convenience."

The Admiral nodded and said, "I'm glad to hear it. It's been a long time since I've had the captain of the _Enterprise_ as my guest. I look forward to the experience again. In the meantime, my dock master will transmit a parking course next to the _Midgarth's Warder_. I will see you in an hour, Captain."

"Captain, we're being routed to the other side of the station," Ensign T'Lear said.

"Follow the corridor set by the station, Ensign," Picard told her.

"Yes, sir."

_Enterprise _glided along the path laid out by the station. Several ships of various Dominion and unknown designs were scattered in parking orbits around it. Small worker modules and transport tugs were travelling back and forth between the station and the ships. Two cruisers similar to the _Thunderbird _were sitting in a high orbit on station guard. It took quite a while to even reach the massive structure, much less navigate under it.

The image on the screen changed as the ensign rolled the _Enterprise_ to the port, allowing their momentum to shift in such a way as to be useful to the ship's gravity generators instead of a complete drain on the inertial dampeners. It was a trick many flight control officers in the fleet had picked up over the years. It didn't make a lot of difference in the ship's energy consumption, but it did save some slight wear and tear on the inertial dampeners, those were something no one serving on a starship wanted to see worn and torn.

As the upper portion of the screen drew back from the station's hull, the image of a huge craft came into view. She had a definitely organic feel to her lines, like some kind gleaming cocoon. From the forward section projected two staggered wings raking back over her ventral and dorsal spines. Hundreds of launch bays were embedded along both the forward and aft edges of each wing. Her main hull sloped backwards to a fine point. Four warp nacelles projected from much smaller wings at her aft section. "Get Doctor _Seizemore_ up here immediately. I want her impressions of the technology," Picard said.

"No need, Captain," the small woman said from behind him. "I came up here as soon as I heard the news."

"Impressions?" he asked.

She went over to the science console and began scanning. "She's six thousand three hundred seventy four meters from stern to the fantails of her warp nacelles; five thousand six hundred twenty-two meters across her dorsal/ventral axis; and four thousand four hundred eighty meters from port to starboard. I'm getting exactly zero life signs and no energy signature from her what so ever."

"Cloaking technology?"

"Possibly, but we can see her. More likely internal shielding," _Seizemore_ said. "She's evidently designed to run silent and run deep."

"What are you sensing from their psi-net, Dr. Jarn?"

"Excitement, anticipation, mainly sir. Evidently there's some kind of news agency covering our arrival and it's being broadcast as well- images only though. However, the conversation is rather interesting."

"Explain Counselor," Picard said.

"The primary area of discussion seems to be between two factions. The first is very interested in making contact with us and visiting Earth space again. The other faction is ambivalent toward opening diplomatic relations. They feel that we have very little to offer them except more discrimination and misunderstandings. They also seem to be unimpressed with _Enterprise_, sir," Dr. Jarn said.

"So there may be a split between the official government position and the general populace?"

"It's possible. Maybe it's something you should discuss with Admiral t'Rllallieu," Doctor Crusher suggested.

"I'll bring it up if the opportunity arises," Picard said. "As for this meeting, what do you think it's about?"

"She said it was about a missing person. If nothing else, maybe we can reunite one person with their family," Beverly said.

"Only one way to find out, beam over and talk to the woman," Commander Greenbough said. "Just take a security detail with you." He leveled his gaze at Picard, "I'm sure I don't have to quote General Order 15."

Picard shook his head, "One of these days, Starfleet is going to clarify that regulation, and first officers across the fleet are going to resign en masse. Very well Commander. Will Commander Tuvok be acceptable?"

"Of course, Captain," Commander Greenbough said without a trace of irony. "Commander Tuvok is a highly trained and efficient security officer. He is more than capable of handling your safety."

Picard looked over to Doctor Crusher and said with a smile, "He's worse than Will ever was."  
"I know," she replied.  
"What else can you tell me about the _Midgarth's Warder_ and Babylon Station?"

"Babylon Station has an unusually high water content sir, much like the _Thunderbird_. Scans on the interior of the _Midgarth's Warder_ are ineffective," Doctor Seizemore said.

"The water, this would be their habitat for the Shan species?" he asked.

"I would say so, sir."

"What can you tell me about them?"

"Very little, we know they are an amphibious humanoid species, who according to the data files garnered by Ensign T'Lear, have developed bio-technology to extreme levels. They don't build phasers and starships, they grow them."

"Could they be the source of the Empire's genetic manipulation technology?"

"Very possibly."

"Lieutenant Commander Vovarasky described herself as a Shan defender. What do the files say about that?"

Ensign T'Lear tapped several interfaces on the helm and said, "The defenders are a genetic variant of the Shan with increased strength, durability, and speed. According to my discussions with Lieutenant Windham, the Shan were starting to die out in ancient Earth's predator filled seas. The appearance of the Shan defenders gave them the wherewithal to not only survive but to thrive as a culture."

"So they are capable of adapting to both an aquatic and a land environment?" Commander Tuvok asked.

"Yes sir. They have a rather interesting physiology and culture. Their cultural practices are hedonistic by even Deltan standards, and according to Lieutenant Windham, their preferred mode of dress is none at all."

"It makes sense," Doctor Jarn said. "Most clothing would become cumbersome in an aquatic environment."

"Of course Doctor," Ensign T'Lear said. "The uniforms that I observed the Shan wearing on the _Thunderbird_ were scant at best, and I got the impression they were for my benefit more than for the normal functioning of the crew."

"Maneuvering with that much water in a spacecraft could prove to be a rather large energy drain," Ensign T'Lear commented

"I wondered about that myself, Ensign," Picard replied. Large amounts of liquids of any sort always proved to be difficult to transport in space, as it shifted rather easily in its containers. Building a starship designed to hold liquid as an environment was unheard of.

"Their inertial dampeners must be impressive," Commander Greenbough said.

"Aquatic races don't usually achieve star travel," Doctor Jarn commented "I wonder what made them different."

"Perhaps the fact that they are amphibious by nature?" Doctor Crusher replied. "And they did evolve alongside the Voth. Maybe that is the difference. I wonder if they are asking as many questions about us, as we are about them."

"They do have several tactical advantages," Commander Tuvok said. "Not the least of which is our ignorance of their very existence. Combined with what is evidently their superior technological and psionic abilities and we are sorely outmatched. Diplomacy is not only desired here, but is mandatory."

"Agreed Commander," Picard said. "Now if you'll join me in the transporter room

Five minutes later, Picard found himself stepping off a well-appointed pad alongside Commander Tuvok. Two armed guards wearing Imperial uniforms stood at a nearby door, and a technician was behind an operations console. Next to the console was a young woman who appeared to be in her mid twenties, dressed in what Picard assumed was civilian garb consisting of a simple white blouse and a pair of green slacks. Her long red hair was pulled back along the sides of her head to cascade elegantly down her back like a rich copper waterfall. Her green eyes sparkled as she looked over at the captain and said in English, "Welcome to Babylon Station Captain Picard. I'm Aerin Grimwauld; Admiral t'Rllallieu has asked me to be your guide on the station."

Picard raised an eyebrow and asked, "A civilian guide?"

The woman smiled, "The Admiral prefers you to get a broader cross-section of experiences on the station than just the military. This is a civilian station with a military command staff. I'm a member of the Trade Council on the station, and a labor arbiter." She then turned to Commander Tuvok and raised her hand in the traditional Vulcan salute, "Welcome Commander Tuvok. Peace and long life."

Commander Tuvok raised an eyebrow, but returned the salute, "Peace and long life, to you as well, Ms. Grimwauld."

She turned back to Picard and said, "I was briefed on your command staff by Lieutenant Windham. He's been reassigned to Lady Tethys' staff for the duration of your visit. The Imperial Council felt it would be best to have at least one consistently friendly face among the diplomats you will be dealing with."

Picard smiled at the woman. "That was very kind of you."

"Kindness is only part of it, Captain. We wish these negotiations to go well, and a consistent presence will facilitate that. The fact that that presence is in the form of a Prince of the Realm, is a bonus."

"I had forgotten about that part. Ensign T'Lear's reports on the young man were rather glowing in their assessment. She didn't make any mention of an aristocratic bearing," Jean-Luc said.

Ms. Grimwauld indicated the doorway where they should exit, and said, "I would be surprised if she had. Prince Stefan is anything but a social snob. From what I've heard, most of the time he's more embarrassed by his rank than reveling in it."

Jean-Luc smiled, "I've met a few young men like that. Usually though, they're out to embarrass their parents in the process." He remembered a time when he had similar attitude. He never had a social rank, most of that kind of thinking on Earth had disappeared a long time ago, but he did remember rebelling against his parents. He was after all the first Picard to leave the Sol System.

"I don't think that's Stefan's plan. I think he just wants to be left alone to do his job."

"An unusual attitude for one so young," Tuvok said.

"Stefan is an unusual man," she said. "But that is a tale for another time. For now, the Admiral is looking forward to meeting you."

"I'm curious, how was it that you were able to convince a Romulan Empress to serve your Empire?" Tuvok asked.

The woman smiled up at him, "My Emperor can be quite persuasive. That and the fact, that we understand the Rihannsu concept of mnhei'sahe. We understood why she needed to leave her people, and what she was trying to do. We were able to work within her sense of honor to find a place for her crew and for her."

"So your security force here is Romulan?" he asked.

"Rihannsu," she said.

"Of course Rihannsu."

"Yes, they are Rihannsu, some of them at least. Others have moved on to other duties in the Empire, or retired. When we made our agreement, it included the opportunity to become citizens."

"Rihannsu are a notoriously xenophobic people, Ms. Grimwauld. One wonders how you were so easily able to overcome that?" Tuvok asked.

She smiled and said, "We never said it was easy. It was a very wary relationship for the first ten years or so. However, we were very careful to avoid cultural misunderstandings, and slowly became allies. She accepted an appointment in Imperial Navy as convenience for both of our peoples."

Picard had been on alien space stations before, and of course had managed to visit about half the starbases in the Alpha Quadrant throughout his career. Most alien stations were somewhat xenophobic, with stares and lidded glances indicating distrust. Here he found people openly nodding to him, greeting him with brisk "good morning sirs," or "hellos" and even a few "bonjours".

"Your people are remarkably open, Ms. Grimwauld," he said.

"Your arrival has been a source of excitement throughout the empire for several days now. It's managed to take some of the wind out of the sails of other news," she replied.

"Such as?" Commander Tuvok asked.

She smiled at him as they entered a lift. "Green 5." As the doors closed and the lift began to move, she turned to Commander Tuvok and replied, "The whole fiasco of the Junior Williams getting injured in the IFL Playoffs. The Saber's upset was all everyone was talking about for a while. Also there was the attack on the Saexa System, and some a suggestions that there has been a new incursion into Imperial Space from outside our galaxy."

"Like the Archiens' wormhole incursions into Romulan Space?" Picard asked.

"We don't know right now, Captain. Andromeda is on the opposite side of the galaxy from us. They would have to be punching a wormhole through the Shapley Center, and I don't think their technology could pull that off- not without reigniting the super massive singularity there. We do know that their ships have proven difficult for us to kill."

"Even for a vessel like the _Midgarth's Warder_?"

"_Midgarth's Warder_ is a powerful ship, Captain. Possibly the most powerful in the fleet, but there is only one of her and limited number of her brothers and sisters. We are not like the Federation. Our physical resources are not limited, but our human resources are finite. We can't keep sending younger and younger men and women out into space to die- and we refuse to conquer other people to do our fighting for us. We have thirty worlds in six star systems. Our next stellarforming project is not due to come online for another fifty years."

The lift stopped and opened into a large reception area filled with various station personnel. Jean-Luc noticed that the vast majority of the people in this area were wearing Imperial Uniforms. Two guards, one Rihannsu, and the other human stood on either side of a door. Ms. Grimwauld guided her charges to the door. The guards stepped aside so that they could pass.

The first thing that Jean-Luc noticed about the room was the huge window behind the desk. It looked out to the expanse of stars and ships beyond to give the Admiral a perfect view of station space. Admiral t'Rllallieu was sitting behind the desk speaking quietly to someone else. Jean-Luc stopped himself from doing a double-take. The man was huge, with a red beard and long copper hair pulled back into a neat pony-tail. His was a good two meters tall and half as broad across the shoulders and was the spitting image of his first officer.

The Admiral rose and nodded, "Ah, Captain Picard. Thank you for joining me. This is Captain Ridvin Greenbough of _Their Majesties' Ship_ _Midgarth's Warder_."

The big man nodded to Captain Picard, offered a huge paw of a hand and said, "I'm pleased to meet you Captain. I believe you have my brother on board your ship. My mother would really like to have him back. Dad's got a whole squadron of Imperial Marines sitting on her right now, and we're not sure how long they can hold her."


	11. Familial Obligations

Captain Ridvin Greenbough took the measure of the man across the room from him. He was smallish, and not very imposing, but there was a fire and intelligence behind his eyes that bespoke a man accustomed to command. "Fleet Captain Plainwalker's message to high command about the presence of my brother on your ship sent a ripple through Fleet Command that has reached the farthest outposts of the empire."

"I'm sorry, I don't understand, Captain Greenbough." It was obvious that the man was surprised by the revelation. "I can definitely see the resemblance between you and my first officer, but we were unaware that he had any relatives alive."

"When Dr. Sevrin seized control of the _Aurora_ my parent's hands were tied in defending the ship because of my brother and I were on board. They originally intended for us to escape via a long range teleport to one of our outer colonies. Father had set Robin and me to over-clocking the escape pod's engines as a way of keeping us out of his hair while he and mother prepared for the teleport. These things can be rather draining you understand. Unfortunately, the Enterprise locked the tractors on us before we could escape. Robin distracted Tongo Rad by kicking him where it counts and running off. Mother barely got us off the ship before it exploded. She never forgave herself for leaving him behind. We thought he had died."

He couldn't help but remember those sad years as a boy. He and Robin had been close and the loss of his twin had left him severely depressed for a long time. Of course what it had done to his mother had been far worse. It had been a very long time before she let herself really live again. She even refused to allow the family to reuse the name Robin for subsequent children.

"Evidently he made it to the escape pod just before the ship exploded. Since the engines had been over-clocked it accelerated away from the Romulan Neutral Zone at C point eight. It was several decades before he was discovered, but only a few weeks had passed for him," Picard told him. "He was later picked up by the _USS Entente_ and brought back to Earth."

"That would explain why Mother couldn't find him. If he was moving that fast, his relative thoughts would have been so slow that she couldn't detect him," Ridvin nodded. It explained a great deal about the last hundred years or so. She claimed that she kept catching glimpses of his mind, but couldn't pinpoint him.

"Was Commander Greenbough one of your Watchers?" Commander Tuvok asked.

Ridvin shook his head, "No, Commander. All of our watchers are adults who volunteered for the job."

Commander Tuvok raised an eyebrow at the reply but said nothing else. Rid got the distinct impression that he was missing something. Turning back to Captain Picard, he said, "Mother has agreed that it would be best if I handled the discussions with you about reunification with the family. To be honest though, it was touch and go there for a while. She wanted me to take the _Midgarth's Warder_ out to meet you and bring him home. She's somewhat irrational about this particular point."

"What are your wishes concerning the matter, Captain Greenbough?" Tuvok asked.

"To meet with my brother and let him know that we're alive and well, and that he has been missed sorely," Ridvin told him. What he was about to say next was very likely to cause difficulties but he had to impress on the Federation its importance. He sighed and plunged ahead, "There is also the issue of the blocks on his enhancements."

"I don't understand," Captain Picard said. "What enhancements, what blocks?"

"My parents kept blocks on our enhancements when were children to keep us from accidentally giving away who and what we are. They were taking us to the Empire so that we could have a normal childhood and grow into them naturally. However, the years have worn down Robin's blocks. If they are not dealt with soon, it's very likely to become unpleasant for him as well as others around him."

"What kind of enhancements?" Picard asked.

"Enhanced strength, durability, senses, and reactions, are standard. There are others as well- far more dangerous if not controlled soon," Rid told the Captain of the _Enterprise_. He was wary of giving any more information. He was just glad that Prince Stefan was among Lady Tethys' entourage. If Robin stayed aboard the _Enterprise_ for the duration of the voyage to Thule Prime then Stefan could help him understand the changes that were very likely to start taking place soon.

"Is he a danger to the _Enterprise_?" Commander Tuvok asked.

Rid shrugged and said, "It depends on how quickly the blocks fall away, and his own personality, and the situation, and whether or not you've had that Betazoid counselor running around in his head or not."

"Counselor Jarn is a licensed psychologist, and very good at his job," Captain Picard said.

"I'm not saying he's not," Rid told him. "I'm saying that when our mother blocked our abilities, she put specific triggers in. If he trips the wrong safeguard, he's likely to end up a bloody mess all over the bulkheads. My people are capable a great gentleness and compassion captain but when we strike, either from fear or anger, it is with devastating power. I believe the Jem'Hadar found that out about my brother on Starbase One."

"I thought you said that his enhancements were blocked," the Captain of the _Enterprise_ said.

"I did, but those blocks will slowly erode and probably have been doing so for several years. They were never meant to last past puberty," Rid told him. "That was one of the reasons, our parents were taking us to the Empire.

"I see," Captain Picard said. "What would you suggest?"

Rid considered the question, "I would suggest an initial meeting here on the station, where the security forces are accustomed to handling this kind of situation."

Picard looked over at the Admiral and asked, "You have dealt with enhancer emergence before?"

Admiral t'Rllallieu nodded her head and replied, "It has occurred occasionally. I am not at liberty to discuss the nature of your Commander Greeenbough's situation. However, I will confirm what Captain Greenbough has told you. When his particular enhancement become active, a squad of heavily armed Klingons would not stand against them. I have seen what has happened to the occasional Jem'Hadar who've managed to irritate the Captain's people. It doesn't go well for them."

That news didn't ease Picard's worries. He looked over to where Commander Tuvok was sitting rather stoically. Something told him that this situation was not sitting well with his Vulcan security officer either. Picard turned back to t'Rllallieu and nodded, "Give me the opportunity to inform the commander first. Suddenly telling him that his parents and brother are still alive will be enough of a shock to him, but to tell him that they are here and are in Imperial Space, will be doubly so."

"Sounds reasonable, Captain. But keep in mind that he is very close to erupting, especially after Starbase One. It would not surprise me to find out that his holodeck usage has been considerably more frequent and more violent."

"Doctor Jarn has certified him as fit for duty. Are you saying he is not?" Commander Tuvok asked.

"No, what I'm say is that like myself he's more likely channeling more extra aggression and agitation into ripping the heads off photonic constructs on the holodeck." He stopped and locked eyes with Commander Tuvok, "What my brother is likely to go through soon is not unlike plak-tow." Picard noticed Tuvok's single eyebrow raise. "But keep in mind, that in this particular state, he would be able to go through the most advanced graduate of the VDA with little or no difficulty."

"Plak-tow?" Captain Picard asked.

"The blood madness," Tuvok said. "It is something Vulcans do not discuss." There was a hardness in his voice that made it clear he was not happy with the idea of a non-Vulcan knowing of this.

Picard nodded his head. There was much about Vulcan that its natives did not discuss under the Rules of Privacy of Surak. It was Picard's experience that much of it involved either psionic abilities or mating practices. He sighed, "Very well, perhaps Prince Stefan would be available to help break the news to him."

The Imperial Captain nodded and said, "An excellent suggestion captain." He exchanged looks with Admiral t'Rllallieu and then added, "Might I suggest, including Ensign T'Lear as well."

Again Tuvok's eyebrow raised, "I am curious as to why?"

"Because, they're friends."

"I have not noted an increased contact between the Ensign and the Commander that would indicate such," Tuvok said.

"Commander," Picard said, "The take almost every evening meal together, and they share holodeck time. They along with Command Seizemore and Doctor Crusher share gym time. Commander Greenbough rapidly making many friends on board the _Enterprise_." Commander Tuvok's reaction to this information puzzled Picard.

"Very well, if you consider important. I am concerned for the Ensign's reactions and possible safety, if the Commander should have such a negative reaction as you described."

Captain Greenbough chuckled, "Somehow, I don't think he is likely to harm the Ensign."

Tuvok raised an eyebrow and asked, "Are you implying an inappropriate relationship between the Commander and the Ensign?"

"No Commander Tuvok. Even in our worst moments, we still know friends from foes, and non-combatants from combatants."

"I am curious as to where you are getting your data on _Enterprise_ personnel?"

"Lieutenant Windham noted in his report discussions with the Ensign about Commander Greenbough. We _have_ had them working rather closely together, and such discussions are not out of line; for Imperial personnel at least," Captain Greenbough said. "And from the Lieutenant's observations, Ensign T'Lear does not appear to be your typical Vulcan. "

"I am unconcerned with the Commander's and the Ensign's friendship," Picard finally said. "If you think that her presence may ease the shock to my executive officer, then I'll take that into serious consideration. However, we have mission here beyond simply reuniting Commander Greenbough with his family."

"Exactly," Ms. Grimwauld said. "Which is why the _Warder_ will be prepared to leave as soon as Lady Tethys' ship arrives. It has been delayed by the other actions inside the Empire. In meantime I would offer to you and your crew, the shore leave facilities of Babylon Station. I am sure you and they are as fascinated by us as we are about you. And that will give Imperial Security an opportunity to decide what to do with your Founder."

"What do you mean what to do with her?" Tuvok asked.

"Whether or not to mind wipe the data she's accrued about the Empire while onboard your ship. Several computer models are suggesting that in the long run, it may be a better option to simply let her go; especially if the incursion into Imperial Space we've recently dealt with involves the Archeins who've given the Admiral's people so much trouble of late."

Picard nodded, "We were under the impression that Founders could not be manipulated mentally."

"It is difficult, but it can be done," Ms. Grimwauld said. "And it is usually more unpleasant for psis involved than for the Founder. Their minds are…," she struggled to find a word; finally settling for, "...arrogant, and without just cause. It really does surprise me that for all the Federation's ideals you are willing to make a treaty with a race that actively conquers and enslaves other peoples."

Picard smiled ruefully, "And practices genetic programming on the level to create slave races like the Vorta. Trust me, I too become somewhat dismayed at the lapses in ethics in some of our treaties, but our highest law says that a culture's practices cannot be infringed upon."

Ms. Grimwauld smiled, "When I was on Earth in the twentieth century, there was a similar movement then. People believed that women and those with alternative sexualities deserved equal rights. But at the same time, those same people believed that a culture that treated women as chattel, stoned them for the crime of being raped, and hung those with alternative sexualities in the public square was equally valid to the one that valued those people. It was a dichotomy that led the death camps at Riyadh and the loss of the city of Orlando to a dirty nuke. When one makes a deal with the devil, one finds oneself doing the devil's business. The Empire does not make such deals. We do not enforce our ideals on others, and that is our highest law- the right to be left alone. At the same time, we do not allow others to enforce their ideals on us. We will deal with the Founders honestly and openly when they deal with us as such. We also will deal with the Federation, and the Romulan Star Empire in the same way. If we have to deal with Archeins, then so be it."

"I noticed you did not mention the Klingons," Tuvok said.

"They don't shop here," Ms. Grimwauld said. "I think it has to do with who can mark higher up on the tree."

"Very well, then let's discuss general rules for my crew visiting your station. I have to note that your people are unusually open and accepting to strangers," Picard said.

"We have a policy; a stranger is just a friend you haven't met yet," Captain Greenbough said.

"As for rules," Admiral t'Rllallieu said, "Keep them out of Blue and Green Sectors. That is not from any security issues, it is simply for their safety. Blue Sector is full of salt water at twenty-five Thulian atmospheres." She sighed, "And Green Sector is our protectorate sector. It not a place I send even my own security forces. Their culture can be both confusing and harsh." After that, they got down to the business of hammering out a general visitation policy for the station.

~*~

Jean Luc looked around as the general briefing was breaking up. He'd given Commander Greenbough the order to get the shore leaves started with instructions that he wanted to see him before he himself went on leave. Making sure that the crew knew to abide by their hosts wishes about off-limit areas was something he was sure the commander would take care of. "Doctor's Crusher, Seizemore and Jarn, Commander Tuvok, and Ensign T'Lear, please remain a moment," told his staff.

The indicated staff stopped and retook their seats. He noticed Dr. Seizemore watching Commander Greenbough as he left. He wondered if she suspected anything going on with Commander. After the room had cleared he took a deep breath and said, "We have a bit of a problem."

"Oh?" Beverly asked. "Does this involve the missing person the Admiral mentioned?"

"Yes it does, Doctor; and more importantly I have a few questions for you, for all of you."

"Go ahead," Dr. Jarn said.

"Dr. Jarn, you said that you sensed the potential for a great deal of violence from our exec. Do you still sense that?"

"To be honest sir, I sense a great deal of control in the Commander. He is fighting something inside him right now, and for the time being he is winning."

Dr. Seizemore made hrumph-type noise.

"Doctor?" Captain Picard asked.

"When I came on board and met Commander Greenbough I did a little research," she said.

"And the nature of this research was?" Commander Tuvok asked.

"I came across the name Greenbough in the archives Starfleet Intelligence released to us before we left. I wanted to confirm or deny the theory I had going. The name Greenbough comes up prominently in pre-Eugenics war files. There were at least two Greenboughs who achieved command rank in the US Navy before the Eugenics War, and four that gained status of "most wanted" by the old UN General Assembly. Now you have to remember that this was at a time when the UN was coercing, kidnapping, and forcibly breeding and re-educating enhancers." She paused for a moment to let the information sink in. "Considering that the Greenboughs were listed as the owners of the _Aurora_, and that they had two sons with them, Ridvin and Robin, and considering that Commander Greenbough was found in an escape pod belonging to the _Aurora_, my suspicions are that Commander Greenbough is one of _the_ Greenboughs."

"And you did not see this as important enough of information to bring to our attention?" Commander Tuvok asked.

"Is it important that we know that you left Starfleet because of discomfort with serving with humans?" Doctor Seizemore asked.

"No it is not germane to this discussion," Commander Tuvok said with slight tightening around his eyes.

"Then this information was not germane at the moment. Especially since you had the same information available to you, and neither uncovered nor investigated it," she replied.

"Be that as it may," Jean Luc said, "it would seem that your supposition is correct, Dr. Seizemore.""

"Good, that means that Commander Greenbough is most probably an enhancer and if by what the records indicate, an elasomorph. And I would almost bet that the aggression and control that the counselor is detecting off of him has everything to do with that particular aspect of his genetics; one that appears to have been bound or contained, probably through psionic methods of memory block," Doctor Seizemore said.

"What concerns me," Commander Tuvok said is the possibility of him being a spy for the Empire."

"Commander, at this point in time, it wouldn't matter. We've already found out that the Empire has had people deep inside the Federation government since its founding. Besides which, I don't know of any culture that uses a ten year old as a spy. And from what we've heard of this culture, they definitely wouldn't. I don't think Commander Greenbough is a spy. I think he's the victim of the unfortunate circumstances involving Dr. Sevrin's mad schemes to find Eden. You seem to want to victimize him again; or maybe criminalize him at least."

"I am merely concerned about possible security breaches of Federation intelligence," Commander Tuvok said.

"Commander, Dr. Jarn is more of a breach of Federation intelligence than Commander Greenbough is."

"Me? How did I get mixed into this?" Dr. Jarn protested good-naturedly.

"It's simple Doctor. What the Commander is forgetting is that each of your attempts to engage in this psi-network all around us could possibly leave you as an open book." She smiled at him, "And you've been inside enough people's heads with sensitive information to be really dangerous."

"I had not considered this," Commander Tuvok said.

"However, there is still the incident on Deep Space Nine where the Commander was engaged in social activities with a Romulan Security officer."

"Oh?" Dr. Seizemore said. "You mean when they went into the holosuite and compared techniques."

"Techniques?" Commander Tuvok asked.

"What else would you call comparing fighting styles between a 'llaekh-ae'rl and k'a'sumi?"

"I would call it an unfortunate choice of sparring partners," Commander Tuvok said.

"Commander, we're not presently at war with the Rihannsu, and they just saved our hides, by stopping the Tholian Fleet at Alpha Centauri. Besides, the Rihannsu security officer involved was none other than AiodanR t'Laekr, the grand champion of their Empire. The fact that he was willing to spar with Commander Greenbough makes me jealous," Doctor Seizemore told him. "This is starting to sound less like a security inquiry, and more like a witch hunt."

"I quite agree, Doctor," Captain Picard said. "Your concerns are noted, Commander, but they are not germane to this issue, and unless you have some specific allegations, I want the matter dropped. I will not have another incident on this ship like the one with Admiral Satie."

"Very well sir," Commander Tuvok said.

"Captain," Ensign T'Lear asked carefully. "May I inquire as to the justification for me in this meeting?"

"You were named as one of the Commander's friends, Ensign, and were mentioned as someone who may be able to assist him through what was described as a possible difficult time when the blocks on his enhancer abilities finally fall away," Captain Picard said. He then looked over at Dr. Seizemore and said, "And you are right, Doctor. Commander Greenbough is _that_ Robin Greenbough, and his brother is the Captain of the _Midgarth's Warder_ that will be escorting us to Thule Prime."

"Does he know yet?" Beverly finally managed to find something to say.

"Not yet. We are awaiting Lieutenant Windham's arrival from the _Midgarth's __Warder_," Captain Picard said.

"Oh this is going to be fun," Dr. Seizemore replied.

"Explain."

"T'Lear has the physical capabilities to at least resist Commander Greenbough. Windham, if my guess is correct will compliment the Ensign, and between the two of them with a little back up thrown in from a distance will be able to handle anything Commander Greenbough tosses at them." she explained.

"You seem rather knowledgeable about this situation, Doctor," Commander Tuvok said.

"Commander, there is very little of this information that I've just given you that is not in the briefing we received from Starfleet Intelligence. You just have to take the time to go digging in it. Granted, it's a tremendous amount of data, and I will admit I've had very little to do on this mission other than monitor the transwarp engines which are working just like I designed them to, so I've dug through it," Doctor Seizemore told him. There was a look in her eye that said she knew what he was intimating, and it dared him to carry through with it.

~*~

Commander Greenbough spent the better part of an hour arranging and scheduling the shore leaves for the crew. Most people outside of the service would be surprised to find out exactly what the duties of an executive officer aboard a starship were. Many simply thought of them as a back-up captain, and someone to lead away teams, or as he preferred to call them, landing parties. And those were things that an exec did, but they were only a small part of the job. The executive officer's primary job was to see to the smooth operation of a ship- it was a tradition that went all the way back to the wet navies on Earth.

His job was to see to the crews needs so that the captain was free to see to the needs of the ship. He handled the vast majority of the paperwork, he handled most disciplinary procedures, only the most serious ones going to captain's mast. Mainly the first officer kept the ship running smooth; and shore leave was one of the most important of those duties. Within the first quarter of that hour he'd gotten the general ship's shifts fed into the data matrix; five minutes later he had a basic schedule to send to the department heads. The other forty minutes was spent making adjustments to accommodate special circumstances that cropped up on any ship with a crew of almost nine hundred souls. He was also making it very clear that the Admiral t'Rllallieu's instructions about Green and Blue Sectors of the station were to be avoided at all costs- otherwise they would be answering to him.

He was deep in the final rotation when Lieutenant Windham from the _Thunderbird_ was escorted onto the bridge by one of Commander Tuvok's security officers, and then directed to the captain's ready room. He briefly wondered about that, but felt that if the captain wanted him to know, then he'd tell him. Besides, he didn't really want to think too hard about the young lieutenant. The ideas that he brought to his mind required a great deal of paperwork, and he wasn't sure if he wanted to have to ask the captain's permission as well as Doctor Crusher's to act on those ideas.

He was surprised however, when about ten minutes later; he received a com-call from the Captain. "Commander Greenbough, step into my ready room."

Robin felt a slight twitching at the top of his head and absently brushed it aside as he replied, "Acknowledged." He looked around the bridge and realized that most of his first choices for taking the com were not present. Finally, he settled on Lieutenant Bridges at ops and said with a smile and a pun, "Bridges, you have the bridge."

"Aye sir," the woman acknowledged as she summoned her own relief and slaved her board to the flight control station until he arrived. Robin sent the final shore leave schedule on to the department heads, and left the bridge.

Entering the captain's ready room he noted that Commander Tuvok, Doctors Seizemore, Crusher, and Jarn were there as well as the captain, Lieutenant Windham and Ensign T'Lear. He wondered about such an eclectic gathering of ship's personnel as he said, "Reporting as ordered, sir."

"At ease, Commander," the captain told him. "I believe you know Lieutenant Windham from the _Thunderbird_.

"Yes sir," he told the captain and then nodded to the lieutenant, "Lieutenant."

"Commander," the young man said with a smile.

"Commander, please sit down," Captain Picard said gesturing to a chair. "We've got a bit of news for you, and we're hoping that you will take it as good news."

Again Robin felt that twitch at the top of his head but forced himself to ignore it. "Good news sir?"

Captain Picard nodded and said, "It would seem that your parents and your brother survived the incident on the Aurora. They are all alive and well, and are eager to meet with you here in the Empire."

He looked over at Lieutenant Windham and turned back to the captain and asked, "Are you trying to tell me that Lieutenant Windham is one my relatives?"

Windham chuckled and said, "Great Gods, no. I'm simply here to facilitate the meetings, and to discuss another matter."

Robin felt himself relax without realizing that he'd tensed up. Somehow the idea of being related to the young man bothered him. He suspected he understood why, but this was not the time to explore those particular suspicions. "What other matter?"

"I see you want all the news at once, Commander," Captain Picard said with a smile. "Very well, it would also seem that you are an enhancer as well. There have been psionic blocks placed on your enhancements, but they are beginning to wear down after so many years."

"Enhancer?" he asked.

"Enhancer," Lieutenant Windham said. "Although we prefer the term transhuman or transentient, being as enhancer was a derogatory term pinned on us by the UN back in the late twentieth century."

"What kind of enhancements?" he asked.

"Increased strength, endurance, durability, senses, and reactions, and possibly some other symptoms as well," the Lieutenant said with a smile. "I would expect that you are already beginning to experience bouts of it now; the situation at Starbase One being a prime example. They are going to increase with frequency until something triggers them- possibly violently. I 'm here to make sure that doesn't happen; to ease you into them as they say."

Robin nodded. This would explain a great deal of his own frustrations over the past few years. It would definitely explain what happened on Starbase One with the Jem'Hadar. "What other symptoms?" he asked very carefully not wanting to give too much away..

The young lieutenant smiled as if he'd read his mind, and said, "Oh that? Yes, Commander that is a symptom for your particular branch of transhuman as well. To be honest, I'm surprised you've managed to control it as well as you evidently have. But your family has always seemed to cope rather well. It has given us some of our greatest heroes, and at least one Imperial Prince."

"You?" he asked.

"Oh, Goddess no." the young man dismissed the idea. He looked up at the overhead as if thinking and continued, "Let's see, your father's first or second cousin, I believe is an Imperial Prince, I'm never sure how everyone in the family is related. You and I are of no blood relation, Commander although we do share some similar enhancements."

Something niggled at the back of his mind as he sensed Commander Tuvok's eyes on him. It was as if one predator was sensing a weakness in another. If Tuvok wasn't a Vulcan, Robin would have thought the man unaware of the reaction. But he knew Vulcans enough to know that they did indeed have emotions, they were simply very tightly mastered; and he knew that as a Vulcan, Tuvok would be aware of any he was feeling. He turned and met the man's gaze and held it. Robin could feel the tension in the air as the two locked eyes, yet he stood stock still, refusing to look away. Finally, there was a flash of something primal in the dark eyes of the security chief; something that went to an almost genetic level that forced his eyes from Robin's gaze.

"Am I to assume that I'm under some kind of suspicion?" he asked Captain Picard.

"Not at all Commander Greenbough," Captain Picard said. "Commander Tuvok has some concerns about your activities on Deep Space 9, but beyond that, you have my utmost trust."

"Thank you Captain," he told his commander. Then turning to Tuvok, he said, "I am at your convenience to answer any questions about my activities on Deep Space 9, Commander." Then turning back to Picard, he asked, "What about fleet regulations concerning genetic augmentations serving in Starfleet?"

"Those could prove to be difficult to explain away," Commander Tuvok said.

"Actually, they would not," Ensign T'Lear said. "Those regulations involve first generation augments done illegally. If what Lieutenant Windham says is true, then the Commander was born to his enhancements naturally, and they are simply part of his branch of transhumans as the lieutenant called them." She looked over at the young lieutenant and asked, "Commander Greenbough's enhancements are indeed natural are they not?"

The lieutenant smiled and said, "They are. They were inherited from both his father and mother, and there was no genetic tampering done to neither he nor his brother. We don't just add enhancements to people willy-nilly. Most of our tampering involves increased life span or occasionally changes to the body to allow a person to immigrate to one of the water worlds of the Shan."

Robin still didn't like the feeling he was getting from the room. He definitely felt he was under suspicion some way and it went to the core of who and what he was. The commander had no idea just how insulting he found having his loyalty questioned. Finally he sighed and said, "Very well. What is it that you wish of me?"

"Come again?" Captain Picard said somewhat confused.

"What do you want me to do?" Robin asked.

"We thought you would like to meet with your family, I'm told that your mother is rather insistent on meeting with you, and is ecstatic to find out you are still alive," Captain Picard said, the surprise evident in his voice. Robin regretted that surprise, but he had to keep his own sense of self and honor clear.

"I understand that Captain, and I would love an opportunity to meet with them. The idea that they are still alive is as much a surprise and joy for me as it is for them." He turned and stared at Tuvok, "But not if it brings my duties, or my oaths to the fleet and the Federation into question. I have lived most of my life thinking my parents and family are dead. A few more months won't make a difference to those feelings." He could out Vulcan a Vulcan when he had to. "My first duty and priority is to see this ship and its captain safely along on this mission. Personal matters can be handled after mission priorities are met."

"That won't be necessary, Commander," Doctor Crusher said. There was steel in her voice that he had not expected to hear. "In this case, making sure that those enhancements are safely integrated into your body and personality are my prime concern; as it affects your ability to carry out those duties. I can't force you to meet with your brother or your parents, but I can order you to accept Lieutenant Windham's help in safely removing those blocks." She turned to Tuvok and said, "As for other matters, I know how that woman on Thule Prime feels- intimately. I think that your meeting with them _will_ help facilitate these negotiations."

"I agree with Doctor Crusher," Captain Picard said. "This falls into your duties as a diplomatic officer; familial connections to Empires in the past have helped smooth relations with the Federation, and I see no reason that they should not be helpful now. Any contact you might have with Captain Greenbough, or your parents will not be held against you."

Robin looked at his captain carefully. He observed minute shifts in weight and kinesthetics, and the timbre of his voice. He finally nodded his head and said, "Very well, sir. I just want it made clear that I wish to do nothing that will bring into question my loyalty to Starfleet or the Federation."

"Understood, Commander," Captain Picard said. "You will of course have to work closely with Captain Greenbough of the _Midgarth's Warder_."

"Captain Greenbough?" he asked.

"Captain Ridvin Greenbough," Captain Picard said. "I understand that he is your twin brother."

"My twin brother would be well over a hundred now, Captain," Robin told him suspiciously.

"Long life spans are a normal for transhumans of our species, Commander," Lieutenant Windham said. "Also considering that you are a rather unusual second generational hybrid that contains homo sapien trans; two varieties of homo sapiens van; and homo sapiens ailour; then a long lifespan for you and your brother is not only unusual but to be expected. I'm told that your grandmother was at Lindisfarne during the first Nordic raids."

Robin again felt the itch at the top of his head, and started to brush it away but held his hand to his side. He noticed the young lieutenant smiling at the near gesture. "That's a little difficult to believe," he finally said.

"Yet I am here. Yet you have no problems believing in the Q."

Robin smiled and said, "Touché." He sighed and took a deep breath. To find out that Rid was still alive was not something he'd expected to find on this mission. To find out that all of his family had survived was even more amazing. However, he was not going to give anyone here the satisfaction of seeing him react in any way that would be a mark against his position on this ship. "What do we do next?"

Wyndham smiled and said, "Well, your brother is rather emphatic about meeting with you, and we can arrange that at your convenience. As for myself, I would like to work on preparing you for the breakdown of those blocks. For that I would suggest either your holodeck or taking you over to Green Sector on the station. I think I can control the blocks better here though. Here I don't have to bash a few heads in to keep onlookers at bay."

"I would be very interested in observing this procedure," Doctor Crusher said.

"As would I," Doctor Jarn added.

"Can you access the holodeck's imaging protocols? I'd rather nobody except perhaps Ensign T'Lear be there," the lieutenant said.

"This is the second time that the Empire has specifically asked for a particular member of the House of Surak," Commander Tuvok said. "I wonder why that is."

"Because she's a friend, and a friend who is physically capable of taking the Commander down if necessary," Windham said. "And there are other reason, but they are frankly none of your concern Commander Tuvok."

The commander raised an eyebrow at the implication. "As the oldest and ranking Vulcan on this ship, and being as she has yet to reach Vulcan majority…,"

"Still haven't gotten Captain Spock's little end-run around Vulcan tradition fixed with Starfleet have you?" Doctor Seizemore asked.

Tuvok raised an eyebrow but continued, "…I consider it my responsibility to make sure she is not involved in anything that may be inappropriate for her."

"With all due respect Commander," T'Lear said, "I am capable of seeing to my own safety and appropriateness." She turned to of all people Doctor Seizemore and asked, "Do you consider this an inappropriate situation for me to be in, Doctor?"

"Not at all, T'Lear, I don't think either of your parents would be distressed by this," the doctor replied.

"How would you know what the Ensign's parents would be distressed with?" Commander Tuvok asked.

"Because I've known them for years; I've known the Ensign for years as well," Doctor Seizemore told him.

"Yet you are human, not Vulcan. I am astounded by the number of humans who seem to know what is best for Vulcans," Commander Tuvok said with an arched eyebrow.

"And I am astounded that you are being so tenacious about something that is none of your concern, Commander," Doctor Seizemore said.

"Is there any danger to the Ensign?" Captain Picard asked.

"There is always danger, Captain; especially when dealing with transhumans. But I don't think that the Commander is likely to hurt her," Lieutenant Windham said. "And I will be there to get between them if I have to."

"The captain turned to T'Lear and asked, "Are you willing to help the Lieutenant and the Commander? You are under no obligation to do so, and if you prefer to take Commander Tuvok's advice, I will understand."

T'Lear raised an eyebrow and then nodded to Doctor Seizemore before saying, "I believe it will be a fascinating anthropological experience. I appreciate the commander's concern, but I am of an age to make these decisions for myself. I will assist the Lieutenant. I am also sure that the Commander will have an armed security team right outside the holodeck door should there be any need of such." Robin wasn't sure, but he thought she'd told the man to mind his own business- in a very Vulcan manner. She turned to look at him and said, "One second generation hybrid to another, I would be honored to be considered your friend, Commander and to stand by you in this."

Robin nodded and then turned to face the captain and said, "I have a request, sir."

"Go ahead, Commander."

"I would prefer that my personal matters not be spread across the ship, this information especially. I realize that Doctors Crusher and Jarn have a professional duty and interest, but I'd prefer this if at all possible this little experiment be sealed. I do not wish to become a subject to be made sport of."

Captain Picard considered his request. He looked over at the Doctor and asked, "Is this a medical matter, Doctors?"

"Most definitely," Doctor Crusher said. "We can put it under medical privacy. We will be those who determine if the security team gets access to the holodeck."

"Agreed," Commander Tuvok said to Robin's surprise.

"Very well," Captain Picard said. "Unless and until this issue becomes a threat to the ship, it will be considered privileged data, and part of the Commander's medical file. How soon can you make this happen, Lieutenant?"

The young man shrugged his shoulders and said, "As soon as you can clear the holodeck and set up the imaging feed."

"Make it so," Captain Picard said.


	12. Invasion!

Please take the time to review on your way out.

Legacy of Force: Chapter 12

Thule's Prime's primary was setting over the Western Sea. In a fortress sitting high on a cliff overlooking the crashing waves below, Lady Emory Greenbough watched the bright oranges and golds splash across the amethyst waves of sea. She sighed deeply as she cast her eyes out and around the parapet. To the north of the stronghold were great forests of redwoods, aspens, ash and elm all grown from genetic material preserved by the shan and brought with them during the great exodus. To the south were some of the most productive fields on the planet. House Greenbough was one of the Empire's largest grain producing sources. Although replicator technology made food easily available- and there was one in every home in the empire- the culinary arts were still very much appreciated among its people and some people still preferred real flour, and real meat to cook with.

Emory was the mistress of everything for a thousand kilometers in any direction but she did not want to be here. She wanted to be on the fastest ship she could commandeer to Babylon Station. She did not want to wait until _Enterprise_ arrived. She had little care for the ship, her captain, or the Federation. She wanted her son back, and to her that was all that mattered.

But it was here that she sat and waited. The calmer heads of her husband, her son, and her brother-in-law had prevailed, and she agreed to wait. However as soon as the _Enterprise_ entered parking orbit above Atlan City she would be there, and she didn't care how many diplomatic incidents it caused. There was only so long a mother could be held off.

Standing there, she watched as the lights of ocean-going craft slowly became visible in the fading light. Pleasure craft, military craft, and commercial vessels all moved across the wine-dark seas in a stately procession of souls. "Gramma' Emory is everything all right?" Jocelyn, her daughter's oldest asked her from the door. Of course grandmother was not a term that most people would apply to Emory. An observer would be hard pressed to place her out of her late twenties, much less several centuries and a grandmother seven times over, and a great grandmother three.

"Yes my little gosling," she told her with a smile. "When did you arrive and where is your mother and the baby?"

"They're downstairs. I ran ahead," the tall girl said with a smile as she hugged Emory tightly. Her long copper hair smelled of jasmine, and Emory couldn't help but notice how she was beginning to fill out. At twelve she wasn't quite the freckled tomboy who used to catch sea-sounders in the tidal pools just a few short years ago. She was going to be a striking young woman in a few years; and a great asset to the House.

Emory smiled at he and asked, "And what brings you all the way to the wild coasts of Northmore, this evening?"

"Mother said that she wanted to visit. That with Grampa away, this house was too big for you to be rattling around in by yourself." She gave her grandmother a conspiratorial grin, "But to be honest, I think they wanted to get me away from Ronan for a while." Of course the house was huge. It was an impenetrable fortress of reinforced stone and cerama-steel, that was designed to hold the entire population of the town below should the Founders invade.

"Oh, and who is Ronan?" Emory asked seeming to recall the girl mentioning the name before.

"He's a boy from school. Mother thinks that he has more on his mind than algebra," she said.

"Does he?" Emory asked with a smile.

"I hope so?" Jocelyn told her with a knowing grin.

"Then maybe it's a good thing your mother brought you to me," Emory said. Emory knew that her attitude would be considered cavalier to those outside of the Empire, but the biological imperatives of many of its citizens had forced a major shift in attitudes over the last four hundred years.

"Gramma! Don't tell me I'm too young to like boys!"

Emory shook her head and said, "Not saying that. I'm saying that you have to be prepared for that kind of thing. Your mom just wants to make sure you're ready. I think there's a technique she wants me to teach you."

"That's what I tried to tell her," Tanya, her daughter and last born said from the door where she was holding the baby. She had inherited Emory's white blonde hair and deep ice blue eyes. "It's not that we don't approve of the boy, far from it, it's that we want to make sure that she's ready for that kind of relationship."

Emory smiled at her granddaughter and said, "This has nothing to do with the boy, Gosling." She sighed and looked out over the ocean, "The empire's greatest treasure is its children and it is the duty of each parent, whether biological or polyspouse to protect that treasure. That means protecting them from becoming parents themselves before they are ready; hence the techniques that I taught your mother."

"But Ronan knows the technique!" Jocelyn protested.

Emory asked, "Ronan Grimwauld?"

"That's him," Jocelyn said.

Emory smiled at the match. Her daughter was fulfilling her duty to see that the orlog of the family be increased. Joining with that particular family line was as prestigious joining the Imperial line. "I'm sure that he has been taught the technique, but it's your responsibility to use it as well. Your mother is not trying to separate you from him, only to make sure you're ready. I will teach you the technique over the weekend." Suddenly a thought occurred to her: she'd been neatly maneuvered into a corner by her daughter, and she did not doubt that her husband and brother-in-law were also behind it as well.

Commander Geordi La Forge looked around the space station and marveled at the open and friendliness of its personnel. It felt much more like a Starfleet station than that of a foreign government. Yes, the uniforms were different, the shan uniform or lack thereof especially so, but the people were open like no other non-Federation culture he'd ever met.

He had pulled a few strings to get himself assigned to the first group going down for shore-leave. He really wanted to check out how this place was put together. He also wanted to talk to someone about the differences between the Federation and the imperial transporters. From the readings he'd been getting from the _Enterprise_ there were some fundamental discongruities in their approach to matter and energy transmission.

As he wandered the station he noted various differences in their construction compared to Federation techniques; things that only an engineer would one, he could detect no seems or welds anywhere on the station. It was as if each module and part had been grown or replicated in place. He briefly wondered how Montgomery Scott might view these marvels, but then thought that they would probably be beyond his understanding, as he was still mired in the technology of duotronic circuits.

After a while he found himself in a large food-court area with various restaurants and bars. He saw one that was doing a brisk business, and the smells that were wafting from it were mouth watering. He entered the establishment and young lady dressed in a smart little black and white uniform smiled up at him and said, "I'll be with you in just a moment sir."

Geordi looked around. The place seemed to be primarily frequented by imperial officers since there was a sea of forest green and black all throughout the place. It was noisy for a restaurant, and every now and again, a cheer or a groan would echo through the place. The woman finished directing the two young men in front of him, also wearing imperial uniforms, to a table in the back room and then said, "Welcome to the Longshoreman. Table for one?"

Geordi smiled at her and asked, "Is it that obvious?"

She smiled back and replied, "Well, you're the only one wearing a Federation uniform. If you're meeting someone, I could check to see if they're here."

Geordi shook his head and replied, "No, a table for one will be fine."

The woman checked the chart at her podium and said, "I've got something near one of the exterior ports. I'm afraid it doesn't have a very good view of the holo-tank though."

"Holo-tank?" Geordi asked.

The girl smiled, "Yeah. Everybody's wanting to watch the All-Star Post Season furball game tonight. It's Junior William's first return to the field since being injured. The game is guaranteed to be ferocious." She was grinning from ear to ear when she flipped the lapel of her uniform up to reveal a little pin that suddenly projected a holographic image of a ferocious looking wolf-like face lunging out toward a brown oval shaped ball. The words "GO JUNIOR!" appeared under the face. "I'm a big fan," she said sheepishly.

Geordi smiled and said, "I won't tell your boss."

She grinned as she directed him through crowd and said, "Thanks. He's pulling for the Rimward League."

"You folks take your organized sports rather seriously, don't you," Geordi said.

"Oh yeah," she told him. "Bragging rights for a whole year keeps everyone excited. I'm the only Razors fan in my whole family. Everyone else pulls for the Northmore Silverclaws. They didn't make the play offs this year so I got some bragging rights out of it in the end. Would have been better if the Razors had won." She stopped at a table seated directly in front of a huge exterior port that looked out onto the veritable fleet of ships from all over the quadrant. On a Starfleet station, this would be considered the best seat in the house, but nobody was paying attention to it here.

He looked out and could see several Jem' Hadar ships in parking orbit, as well as three Dosi ships, and and two of Wadi design. In the distance he could make out the sheer bulk of the _Midgarth's Warder_ looking down on the station seeming to remind all the others to behave themselves. _Enterprise_ sat just off her port bow.

"So what brings you two to Babylon Station?" a woman's voice caught Geordi's attention. He turned to see a tall red headed Amazon- also wearing an Imperial uniform- talking to the two young men who had been ahead of him in line.

The shorter blond man shrugged and said, "Jake's the new first officer of the _Midgarth's Warder_. I'm the new chief engineer. You know how fleet is, Mom. They like to keep married couples together."

The woman smiled and said, "Speaking of that, when are you two going to make me a grandmother?"

Geordi watched both men blush, "We'll get around to it," the one named Jake said.

"Just don't wait too long," she told the young blond. "You already died on me once, Kevin."

He shrugged and blushed deeper. "Don't worry, we have the genetic material in storage. If something happens, you can still get your grand kid," he teased her.

She looked at him and then the other young man, "What happened to the old executive officer?"

"She got her own ship, the _Xanadu,_" he said.

"The all shan ship?" the woman asked.

"Not sure how they got that idea past fleet, but yeah. There are 150 shan defenders on board and 500 baseline shan. If that doesn't scare the hell out of the Dominion, nothing will."

"That scares the hell out of me," the woman said with a smile.

"So what are you doing here on Babylon Station?" the young man who was evidently named Jake asked.

"I've been assigned to Lady Tethys' diplomatic team. I'll be aboard the _Enterprise _for this journey." That caught Geordi's attention. He knew that the captain had agreed to the diplomatic team staying aboard the _Enterprise,_ as sort of a "get-to-know-you" exercise, but he hadn't expected to meet any of the diplomats so soon.

He smiled and said, "Excuse me, but as the chief engineer aboard the _Enterprise,_ let me be the first to welcome you aboard."

The woman looked over at him and smiled, "Thank you, Commander..., uh....?"

Geordi offered his hand and said, "Geordi La Forge."

The woman took his hand and he was surprised by the controlled strength he felt there. His ocular implants suggested a muscle and bone density that rivaled even that of a vulcanoid. "Thank you for the welcome." She looked around the room and then asked, "Are you dining alone?"

Geordi nodded, "I saw a lot of fleet personnel coming in here and thought it might be worth checking out."

"Well, pull up a chair, and join us. "I'm Colonel Gates Murphy, this is my son, Commander Kevin Murphy-Lee, and his husband also a Commander; Jake Lee-Murphy. He might as well be another son."

Geordi was a little surprised by the arrangement. Same-sex couples were rare but not completely unheard of among humans- the genetic alignment having been "corrected" about thirty years ago in one of the few legal genetic manipulative surgeries allowed on Earth, but there were still families that preferred to leave their children as fate had designed them. "Thank you," he said offering his hand to each of the men; both of which shook his and smiled.

"Welcome to the Transentient Empire," Kevin said.

"Thank you. To be honest, we're all a bit overwhelmed by meeting you. We had no idea you existed until the Dominion War. This mission has been one unexpected surprise after another," he said.

"Hopefully at least some of it was pleasant," Jake said.

Geordi smiled, "So far the vast majority of it has been. The discovery of a changeling on board the _Enterprise_ was somewhat unnerving but we managed to get through it. I'm still amazed by the engineering feats I see all over this station."

Colonel Murphy laughed a deep throaty laugh that suggested a woman who had learned to take pleasure from the simple act of living life. "The engineering came easy Commander La Forge. The Empire's true secret, its true power is its people. People who have carved six dead star systems into thirty thriving, living worlds; people who refuse to bow to anyone but themselves; and people who have a zest for life that will not be stilled by the coming entropy in a few billion millennia. We are a people who stand staring into the face of the universe and declare that we are alive, and that we will direct our own fates."

"There she goes again, Jake," Kevin said.

"I beg your pardon," Colonel Murphy looked at her son. "You have a problem with with a positive outlook on life?"

Kevin shrugged, "Not at all. I just get amused when you start waxing poetic about the Empire."

"That's because you missed the worst part of the Enhancer War," Jake accused.

"I was a little out of it, Jake. I was dead," he said.

"That's no excuse for gold-bricking," the other man said with a smile.

"The way you people toss off the centuries like it was nothing," Geordi said shaking his head. "Are you really old enough to remember the twentieth and twenty-first centuries?"

Colonel Murphy nodded and said, "Yes we are. One of the advantages of the enhancer gene is a high percentage of our population are very long lived." She smiled at Geordi and said, "A word of advice Commander. Be careful when you're flirting with the lads and lasses. Some of them who look like they may be in their twenties might be several hundred years old. You've met Prince Stefan Windham. His father looks to be no more than sixteen or seventeen, but he's well over three hundred. Age to us is just a concept that we haven't yet decided whether or not we like."

"That in itself is amazing," Geordi said. "I mean the genetic manipulation that allows you live so long." He shook his head, "It's been outlawed in the Federation."

"And there lies the crux of one of the problems around which Lady Tethys will be negotiating. We are the reason you outlawed genetic manipulation, or more accurately the augments the UN bred in order to take us down were," Jake said bitterly.

"Are you an Enhancer too, Commander?" Geordi asked.

Jake shook his head, "Me? Gods no. The only enhancer gene I have is one for non-aging and cellular regeneration. It was grafted centuries ago."

"And you, Kevin?" Geordi asked.

"I was born with some minor enhancements," the blond said. "Among them was the regenerative gene as well as un-aging. Beyond that, nothing as spectacular as others in the Empire."

"And IQ that begins with two could be considered a major enhancement," Jake accused.

"It's not the IQ, it's what you do with it," Colonel Murphy said.

"Have I disappointed my distinguished dam?" the blond asked his mother. Geordi could sense that there was more to the question than just the light banter that the other man projected. There was a genuine concern that he might not have lived up to expectations.

She smiled, "Only in the grandchildren department. Beyond that, I have no complaints."

"You said that was one of the problems to be negotiated. What are the others?" Geordi asked.

Jake leaned back in his chair but before he could answer, the waitress came to the table. "What'll it be folks?"

"How's lobster?" Colonel Murphy asked.

"Just brought in fresh from Leight," the waitress said.

Colonel Murphy smiled hugely and said, "Good, pick me out the biggest you can find. I want it boiled with 'leth sauce on the side, and the usual fixings."

"And to drink?"

"What white wines do you have?"

"We have a very good Levi Blanc that goes well with the 'leth sauce."

The colonel thought about it for a moment and then asked, "Do you have anything else? I tend to be wary of Levi wines. Those vinters have an unnerving habit of getting overzealous with their flavorings. I don't want to spend my first night aboard the _Enterprise_ howling at the light fixtures."

The waitress laughed and suggested, "How about a nice Riesling from Northmore? It's full bodied, and has a nice lona-fruit aftertaste."

"That sounds good," the colonel said.

Geordi was somewhat surprised by the concept of eating real lobster. In the day and age of replicators, it was not necessary to actually kill an animal to get meat- a point that had a few Vulcans reconsidering their enforced vegetarian diet. The idea of eating an animal that had been dropped in boiling water disturbed him slightly. These thoughts so concerned him that the missed the waitress asking him for his order.

"Commander La Forge?" Colonel Murphy asked. "What will you have?"

Geordi looked at the menu again and seeing something that he was sure wouldn't bother him said, "How about the eggplant primavera?"

"And to drink?"

"What do you suggest?"

"Well, we haven't been cleared to serve Starfleet personnel real alcohol. But we do have a very good synthehol version of Riesling the colonel is having."

Geordie thought about that and said, "Okay. That will be fine."

The other two officers went on to order steaks, and again Geordi discovered that the meat was the real thing, not replicated. He found it just a little disconcerting. "Something bothering you Commander?" Jake asked.

Geordi shook his head, "No. Just a small cultural difference that caught me off guard."

Whatever the commander said after that was lost in the roar of a cheer that went through the restaurant. Colonel Murphy smiled and said, "Game must have started." She then looked at her son and son-in-law and said, "And you two behave. Keep your arguments in your quarters."

"Yes, ma'am," they both said sheepishly.

"So, what do you think of the Empire so far?" Colonel Murphy asked Geordi a moment later.

Geordi shrugged and said, "I really haven't seen enough of it to form much of an opinion. From what I see here, it's an open and and friendly civilization with a strong sense both civic pride and responsibility. To be honest, it seems more like Democracy than and Empire."

"I wouldn't throw the "D" word around the empire too much," the colonel said. "Most people in the empire view the idea of a democracy as being one step away from anarchy. It was the democratic ideal of the majority rules that led the the persecution of enhancers back on Earth. The empire is constitutional monarchy much like Britain under Victoria. The people vote for representatives to the House of Citizens and the House of Subjects, but they cannot vote themselves largess from the public coffers. That was what almost doomed the United States at the turn of the Twenty-first Century."

Geordi smiled and said, "I'll keep that in mind. But to my original point. I've seen the kinds of society the Romulans and Klingons have. I've seen the society of Cardassians, and they are very oppressive regimes. Yours doesn't fit what I've come to expect out of an Empire."

"Why thank you, Commander," the colonel said.

"It's true. I don't really understand your government's concerns about making an alliance with or even joining the Federation," Geordi said.

"You have to understand, our people left Earth because of persecution. We gave up our homes because we reached a point where if we defended it we would have destroyed it. We forged our own society out here, and we're very proud of it. We are not interested in taking what belongs to others, nor are we interested in being absorbed by another culture. We stand as we are. Joining the Federation to many of us would be like putting ourselves back into the situation we left. As for policies that concern us, let me ask you a question. How do you plan to pay for your meal?"

"I'm not sure I understand where you question is going, but the station has set up a ship's account that it will be drawn from," he said.

The colonel nodded and then said, "Of course. It is coming out of what is basically a government expense account." She smiled and said, "Now as for our meals; they'll be paid from my house account. It is money that I and my family have worked hard to earn over the last three hundred plus years. Our economy which is based on the industry of a mere thirty worlds- twenty-four if you count the fact that six of those worlds are temple worlds and don't really have any industry- is stronger than the Federation's which is based on almost twelve hundred worlds counting colonies and all. Yours is based on some kind of egalitarian sharing of resources that doesn't work to produce more than is needed. We are not likely to see trade with an economy such as your as being beneficial. Your credits aren't based on anything other than the word of your government. Our Imperial crowns are backed by the hard work and industry of our people."

"So there are economic differences. The Federation manages to trade with the Ferengi, and they practice an unbridled capitalism similar to your own."

The colonel gave him a long hard stare before saying, "The Ferengi are somebody's idea of a bad joke. They don't practice capitalism, they made economic bullying a way of life. Anyone who would describe the Ferengi as capitalist shows a deep ignorance of not only what the word means, but economics in general. Capitalism is about the free exchange of goods, services, and ideas. The Ferengi seek economic monopolies."

"I didn't mean to offend," Geordi said.

"You didn't," Jake said quickly. "You just suffer from an naiveté that comes from too many years of living in an economically oppressive civilization," he said with hint of a smile.

Geordi chuckled at the good-natured jab and let it lie for the moment. "Okay, maybe that is going to be a job for your Lady Tethys and Captain Picard to hammer out." He stopped for a moment while the waitress delivered their meals. Geordi found himself stealing wary glances at the others' meals wondering how they could eat real meat. To distract himself he asked, "How many are going to be in your party aboard the _Enterprise_?"

The colonel nodded to him from over her lobster and said, "Lady Tethys, her husband and assistant, Bridger, Lieutenant Windham, and myself."

"Bridger is coming along?" Kevin asked.

The colonel nodded and smiled. After a quick snapping of the shellfish's protective covering, she fished out the succulent white meat and dipped it into the sauce next to her table. Before taking her first bite she said, "Those two have been inseparable since they retired from Aeronavy."

"So they served together in your fleet?" Geordi asked.

"You could say that. It's a rather unusual situation," Jake said.

Kevin grinned widely at Geordi and said, "You know how they say that the best captains are married to their ships?"

Geordi shrugged and replied, "It used to be the case. Now Starfleet allows officers to serve with their spouses on the same ship."

"So does our fleet," Kevin said. "But in Lady Tethys' case, she literally married her ship. Or at least the ship's brain."

"I don't understand."

"You know that our ships' computer core is a biological brain that runs many of its higher functions as well as the communications network. Well, when those brains' terms of service are up, they are grown a body and granted full citizenship- sometimes even noble status. Bridger was the ship's brain for _TMS Nicholas Garrett._ He served with Tethys as her commander for almost a century. When the ship was finally decommissioned, she volunteered to help him adjust to life as a human. One thing led to another and they eventually married."

"So she literally married her ship," Geordi said. "Your medical technology must be fantastic."

"It's adequate for our needs, Commander," Kevin said. "Please don't take this wrong, it is not meant as a personal slight. But if you had been born in the Empire you would never have needed those ocular implants. The defect would have been corrected in vitro."

Geordi shrugged, "No offense taken. I don't know what it would have been like to grow up with normal vision. Outside of the headaches that my old visor used to cause, I can't say that I really missed out on anything, and I saw things that most humans never see without a tricorder."

"I'm glad to hear that, Commander," Colonel Murphy said. "That speaks volumes about your character."

"Thank you," he said.

Doctor Beverly Crusher leaned back at her desk and shook her head as she looked over at Doctor Jarn. "That was the most unbelievable thing I've ever seen," she said. "It was more impressive than even the allasomorph we encountered on Daled IV. They at least had a natural form that was more energy than matter. It reminds me of the Antosian ability of cellular metamorphosis."

"Didn't one of the officers from the _Thunderbird_ say that Lieutenant Windham's people were the source of several Terran legends of shape-shifters?" Doctor Jarn asked.

Beverly thought for a moment and then remembered the remark. She hadn't really paid any attention to it at the time. Now she wished that she had. "No wonder they left Earth. If they'd come into conflict with the Augments they really would have left humanity with no place live. They'd have beaten the Augments, I think,but it would have been a terrible battle."

"Computer, cross reference occurrences of cellular metamorphosis in humans, with the data contained in file Greenbough 717. Compile a list of accepted medical papers concerning query."

"List compiled," the computer replied. "One accepted medical paper concerning humans who have exhibited cellular metamorphosis: "Garth of Izar and Cellular Reorganization" by Lieutenant McKenzie Seizemore published stardate 2275. There are several anthropological papers available, but they offer no scientific evidence."

"McKenzie Seizemore? Would that be Commander Seizemore?" Beverly asked.

"Affirmative," the computer replied.

"How long has Commander Seizemore been a member of Starfleet?"

"Commander McKenzie Seizemore was commissioned as a lieutenant junior grade on stardate 225806.30"

"That was over a hundred years ago!" Doctor Jarn said. "Is there any notation as to why the Commander has shown such an extended lifespan?" Beverly had a bad feeling about this. Could she have found one of the Watchers right here under their noses?

"Twice Commander Seizemore has undergone the Sorel/Corrigan treatment for neural regeneration. Once in 2287, when she was injured in a high energy accellerant accident at the Vulcan Science Academy. The second was six years ago, when she was infected with a neural parasite on a deep space mission aboard the _USS T'Priss_ . According to her medical records, each incident reset her physical age to approximately thirty years."

"Well, that would explain the extended age," Beverly commented.

"I don't understand," Doctor Jarn asked. "What is the Sorel/Corrigan treatment?"

"It's a stasis regeneration treatment designed to regenerate normally irreparable full body nerve damage. It is extremely dangerous, and is only ever used in the most dire emergencies. This woman has managed to end up having to use it twice. It has the side effect of resetting the body's aging process."

"That would explain her claims which are corroborated by the Ensign herself that Ensign T'Lear is her god daughter," Jarn said.

Vulcans were not exactly known for familial attachments off planet. The fact that T'Lear had corroborated the claim meant that this woman had some damn high connections with the Vulcan High Council. "Do you think maybe we should bring her in on this?" she asked.

"Commander Greenbough did make the request to keep this information as confidential as possible. However, based on her background, I think she would be considered an appropriate professional consultant."

Beverly nodded her head. "I concur. Now that that's taken care of...," she hit the com badge on her uniform and said, "Doctor Crusher to Commander Seizemore."

"Seizemore here," came the answer.

"Could you please join Doctor Jarn and I in my office. We would like your input on a professional matter."

"On my way," the Commander replied.

Five minutes later the small strawberry blonde entered the sickbay with a smile. "You wanted to see me, Doctor?"

"Yes, Commander Seizemore. I did some checking and found out that you wrote a paper on the subject of cellular reorganization a while back. I would like you to look at a confidential recording and give me your professional opinion on the matter."

The woman chuckled at her and said, "I was wondering how long it would take for somebody to dig up that old paper."

"You've had a remarkable career yourself, Commander," Dr. Jarn said. "You served aboard quite a few history making ships. However, we'd like your insight into the recording of Commander Greenbough's sessions with Lieutenant Windham." He indicated a third chair in front of the view screen.

"I'll be glad to offer what ever input I can, Doctor, but that paper was written over a century ago," she said as she took to offered seat.

"Computer begin playback from time-stamp 17:34."

Commander Seizemore watched the little drama play out on the screen, her face rather impassive the whole time. Finally turning to Beverly she sighed and said, "Not quite the same thing as Garth of Izar, but it does fit with several theories I've developed over the years."

"What would those be?" Beverly asked.

"That there was more to those kinds of legends than simple ergot poisoning or porphyria," she said. "I believe that maybe there is a genetic mutation that allowed such kinds of cellular reconfigurations." She sighed again and added, "I am surprised at the emotional control I'm seeing out of Ensign T'Lear however."

"Surprised at the emotional control of a Vulcan?" Beverly asked. "Why?"

"Because what most people don't realize is that there is almost a genetic fear of cats in Vuclans, much like human's reaction to snakes. It comes from the fact that every felinoid species on the planet is lethally venomous. The reaction is always tightly controlled of course, but it's still there. Notice that she is exhibiting only curiosity, and genuine concern for both Commander Greenbough and Lieutenant Windham."

"I'll have to admit, that my reaction to seeing that would have sent me running from the room," Beverly said. "I do understand now why, Lieutenant Windham wanted to use the holo-deck- the programmed safeties and ability to project force fields would be helpful if things had gotten out of control," Beverly said.

"Running would not have been a good reaction," Commander Seizemore said. "That would have identified you as prey. So what kind of input do you want from me?"

"Do you think the Commander offers any danger to the crew or the ship?" Beverly asked.

"Only to Commander Tuvok if he continues to be an ass," Commander Seizemore told her with a smile. "But to be honest, I'd say not. He seems to be completely in control of himself. Both of them are. I think this may be one of the reasons the transhumans left Earth though. If they'd unleashed that kind of force against the Augments, then the battle would have been fierce and very destructive."

"I concur," Beverly said. "I'm just wondering where the energy is coming from for the extra mass."

Commander Seizemore leaned in to the screen and pointed to a read out running along the side of the visual. "Here," she said. "Look, the ambient temperature in the room began to drop rapidly as the transformation occurred. The ship's environmental controls kicked in to compensate. There was almost a one percent increase in the environmental system's energy drain on the ship's systems."

"What should we tell the Captain?" Doctor Jarn asked.

"Do you think Commander Greenbough has exhibited any behavior that would be dangerous to the ship?"

The counselor shook his head, "No, he seems to be as in control of himself as ever before."

"Then tell him that the procedure appears to be a success. I'm sure he's going to need further training from Lieutenant Windham, but I think things are going well."

"I tend to agree," Beverly said.

_"Commander Greenbough has extended an invitation to you for dinner tonight at 08:00 ship's time in his quarters along with Lieutenant Windham in an effort to express his personal gratitude for your assistance in his recent dilemma. The commander wishes to convey that this is a personal invitation, and not a professional one and that should you decline, no untoward feelings would result." _The message on the screen was something of a surprise to T'Lear. She of course more than welcomed the opportunity to further speak with both the Commander and the Lieutenant. They were fascinating men who she recently discovered shared an unusual genetic aberration that caused their people to leave Earth before the Eugenics War.

She was also honest enough to admit to herself that there was more than a modicum of physical attraction to both of them. Commander Greenbough offered enough of a strength of mind, character, and intellect to be attractive to a woman of any age, and as the founder had pointed out: he was attractive physically. The same things could be said for the Lieutenant, and he was physically closer to her own age- not that age was that much of an issue to either men at this point.

She knew that this was the very issue from which Commander Tuvok was trying to shield her, but he did not understand her own situation as well as he thought. Her physical and sexual maturity was a lot further developed than she knew he believed it to be due to her hybrid physiology. Being as the situation was none of his concern, she felt no need to disabuse him of his erroneous conclusion.

Furthermore, she had no bond-mate whose interests bore protecting as her father citing his own unfortunate experience with that particular tradition had chosen to leave both she and her brother un-bonded and free to seek their own mates. Of course unfortunate experience was a polite term for the situation- T'Pring's activities both at the Place of Challenge and later her involvement with the seccessionist movement on Vulcan was scandalous to say the least. Her brother had successfully found a mate in the form of a Vulcan widow who'd lost her first husband during the Tomed incident. The pairing had been amicable to both her family and to T'Lear's, and her father's decision not to bond his children was further vindicated. T'Lear was free to search for her own bond-mate when the time came.

"Confirm my intentions to attend to the Commander," she told the computer and prepared for her evening meditations. She calculated that she had approximately four point seven hours before her presence had been requested. She felt that it would be appropriate for her to review several meditation techniques to clear her mind to better master her own passions.

After a few quick "house-keeping chores" she settled onto her mediation pad and began to clear her mind. Like her father, she preferred to meditate in the traditional manner- focusing on the flame of a Vulcan fire pot. She knew that her brother preferred the method of their grandfather, Sarek: meditating under an open sky. That was not an option she had available aboard the _Enterprise _ even had she desired it.

Before she had finished the first exercise, her door chime sounded. With the grace of a cat, she unfolded her legs up and out of the meditative position and answered the door. To her surprise, Captain Picard was standing there. "I am sorry to disturb you, Ensign but if you don't mind, there is a matter I would like to discuss with you."

"I am at your disposal, Captain Picard," she told him stepping back. "Please come in, but beware: there is a gravity shelf in my quarters approximating Vulcan normal gravity."

Captain Picard nodded his head and entered the room carefully. He glanced over at the fire pot and said, "I am sorry for interrupting your meditations, Ensign."

"No apologies are necessary, Captain. How might I help you." She noticed that the Captain was already beginning to perspire in the hotter than average temperature of her quarters. "Please sit down," he she said. "Can I get you some tea?"

"Yes, that would be nice, Ensign. Earl Grey, please," he said. "The reason I came to your quarters instead of calling you to my ready room was because of the nature of my inquiry. It's of a personal nature, and I don't want you to feel pressured in discussing it with me if you desire not to."

"Understood, Captain," she said from the room's replicator. "Tea: Earl Grey- hot. Vulcan Ieris tea: hot," she told the computer. She remained silent until the tea arrived and then carried both cups to the low table between the chair and sofa of her quarters. Sitting she finally asked, "Exactly how can I help you, Captain?"

Captain Picard sipped his tea, put the cup down and asked, "I'm concerned about the issues that Commander Tuvok brought up at our meeting with Commander Greenbough. I am not here to to try and persuade you either way, nor to pry into your personal affairs. I am simply trying to ensure that your interests don't fall into the conflict with the wishes of your family."

"You are concerned that you may find yourself in a conflict of interests between my desires and what Commander Tuvok perceives to be the desires of my family? The fact that my mother is a Fleet Admiral, and my father the Vulcan and Federation Ambassador to ch'Rihan places you in what could be considered by many Starfleet captains to be an uncomfortable position."

"I am concerned that a dispute between Commanders Greenbough and Tuvok centering around what Commander Tuvok obviously considers an inappropriate relationship between you and Commander Greenbough becoming a disruption to the ship. What you do in your off-hours is your own concern; the same is true for Commander Greenbough. It is within my rights as captain to forbid him to continue to see you in any manner other than professional, but I am loathe to interfere with my officer's private lives. Furthermore, I have come to understand that you are one of the few officers that the commander has come to call friend. I would not want to deprive the man of a friendship on the basis of of ugly innuendo."

T'Lear sipped her tea, "Are you asking me if my interest in Commander Greenbough is professional, platonic, or romantic?"

"I am not unaware of the fact that Vulcans do have emotions, Ensign. Nor am I unaware of how strong they can be. I have experienced them first-hand. Were it not for Commander Tuvok's inquiries, I would not be having this conversation with you. He pointed out to me that you are not only the daughter of an Admiral, but could be considered the First Daughter of the House of Surak making you the First Daughter of Vulcan."

T'Lear listened carefully, as she sipped her tea. Finally, she placed her cup on the table and said, "Captain, your concern is noted. My relationship with Commander Greenbough is one of academic interests, professional respect, and at this time platonic friendship. As for what my parents may or may not consider an inappropriate relationship or ugly innuendo; Vulcans do not engage in such behaviors. Commander Tuvok's concerns are entirely misplaced, and although if I were a pure Vulcan female with a bond-mate and he was a member of my clan, I could understand his objections. I am neither of the above, and neither is he a member of my clan. I believe there may be more at play with Commanders Tuvok and Greenbough's disagreements than my virtue."

"And that would be?" Picard asked with a smile.

"Commander Tuvok is something of dichotomy among our people. He has claimed in the past to have an acute distaste for dealing with Starfleet in general and humans in particular, yet he continuously signs onto ships that bring him into close contact with humans. He is also an accomplished instructor of Vulcan archery, and I believe casts himself in the image of the stoic Vulcan warrior. Commander Greenbough I believe has made himself in a similar pattern but from a different cloth so to speak. I believe that perhaps Commander Tuvok finds the idea of a human who has mastered many Vulcan techniques and disciplines yet who is so utterly human in his interactions to be disconcerting. Not all of our people practice c'thia, and IDIC to same degree."

"You are saying this is two alpha males jockeying for position aboard the ship? I find that hard to believe, especially of a Vulcan."

Actually, that was not what she was saying, but one did not correct one's captain in such matters."You asked my opinion on the matter, Captain. I will tell you however that if you wish my mother's opinion on the situation, you should send her a message. However, I wonder if you'd do that for any other crew member. I am of the age of majority among my people. I am capable of making my own decisions about my associates." She stood for a moment and went to the desk in the corner of the room and downloaded the message from the Commander to her padd and then handed it to the Captain. "However, if you are concerned about my relationship with Commander Greenbough, you may wish to review this."

The captain took offered padd and read the invitation. He looked up at the young Vulcan officer and said, "I see no problem with this."

"The captain is aware that Lieutenant Windham is an Imperial Prince of the Empire, and that they practice poly-spousal marriage arrangements?"

"No I wasn't," Captain Picard said. "Is that what you believe this invitation is?"

"I do not know, Captain. However, I do not consider the concept to be undesirable."

Picard considered what she just said carefully and then set his tea down, saying "Then the matter is settled. As long as this does not interfere with yours or the Commander's duties as officers aboard this ship, I see no reason to pursue it further."

"Thank you, Captain."

On the far side of the Transentient Empire, a hundred light years inside the Dominion territory, a single Omega particle detonated and inter-dimensional space wavered and split open like a ripe melon. An ugly tear in space-time ripped through the "Q Crossroads" and through the fiery rift in reality as a huge ship plowed into Dominion space. Hundreds of "swarm ships" disengaged from it to bear down on sleepy little system in which it had appeared. The first Kam'Jathae ship had arrived to mark the return of the Hur'q this universe.

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	13. A Dark Reflection

Legacy of Force Chapter 13

Hope you enjoy this next chapter. Please take time to stop and review on your way out.

"I seem to be coming to you with my hat in hand once again, Captain Picard," Captain Greenbough said sitting in Jean-Luc's ready room with his own first officer and the _Enterprises'_ command crew. The tension in the room was almost palpable.

"I don't understand Captain Greenbough," Jean Luc said.

"I have received instructions from my government to ask of you something entirely unheard of in the annals of interstellar diplomacy," Captain Greenbough said. "The Dominion has sent word to us that they wish to sue for peace. The Emperor has agreed to allow a single Founder to travel to Thule Prime to discuss the negotiations."

"This is good news," Jean-Luc said. Captain Greenbough hardly struck him as the type of man to be upset about having his favorite war taken from him.

"It has created certain problems," Greenbough said. "The Empire refuses to allow a Dominion ship into imperial space, and the Dominion refuses to be transported to Thule by an imperial ship. I believe that there are factions on both sides of the conflict that are hoping that such a trivial matter will sink the negotiations before they have ever begun."

"And you?" Commander Greenbough, Picard's own first officer asked of his brother.

The captain turned and faced the man to whom he'd yet had the opportunity to meet outside of official ship's business. "I would be glad for the war to be over. I would welcome the opportunity to make something other than war."

"So what is it that the _Enterprise_ can do for you, Captain?" Jean-Luc asked.

"I was wondering if you would be willing to conduct the Founder to Thule Prime aboard the _Enterprise_?" he said.

Jean-Luc considered the request. "The Federation and the Empire are currently in the middle of our own negotiations, Captain," he said. "This would be a highly unusual request; to involve a third party in the negotiations- a party in which we recently concluded a war and with whom you are still at war."

"I understand your reticence, Captain," Greenbough said. "Were it not a case of political maneuvering on both sides to look like they were offering a friendly hand while pushing for the war to continue I would not be here."

"What of the Imperial policy of mind-wiping Founders who have knowledge of Imperial culture?" Tuvok asked.

The captain smiled, "Computer models are beginning to show that the policy is no longer effective, and may in the long-run do more harm than good if continued," he said.

Tuvok raised an eyebrow and said, "It has been my experience that humans do not make these kinds of changes very easily, Captain. You appear to be rather sanguine about the change in policy."

The tall bearded red-head turned to look at Captain Picard and said, "It has been my experience, Commander that the definition of madness is to continue to try the same thing and expect different results. If the policy has ceased working then something has changed and we must adapt to meet those changes."

Tuvok raised and eyebrow and said, "Most logical."

"So you are saying that the Founder that we discovered aboard _Enterprise_ is not going to be mind-wiped?" Dr. Jarn asked.

"Precisely, Doctor. There have been several incursions into both Dominion and Imperial space by an unknown force that is powerful, deadly, and very aggressive. The Dominion lost an entire star system to them yesterday. We would be foolish to continue to fight in a burning building."

"What do you mean lost an entire star system?" Doctor Seizemore asked.

"This new species detonated a particle of subatomic material just outside the star system. It rendered all higher warp functions inoperable for the next three thousand years, and warp flight in the vicinity of the star system inoperable for the next ten thousand years," he said. "That star system is now almost completely isolated from galactic civilization."

This was not news that Jean-Luc wanted to hear. Captain Greenbough had just described an Omega Event, and that was something about which he had very clear orders. He nodded to the Captain and said, "I think the _Enterprise_ can oblige the Empire in this matter. I think maybe three-way talks may be insightful all the way around. If the Federation, the Empire, and the Dominion can come to a mutual agreement, then that is a major step in stabilizing a large chunk of the Alpha and Gamma Quadrants of the Galaxy." If giving passage to the Founder would get him closer to discovering the source of this Omega particle and neutralizing it, then he would gladly oblige the Empire.

"Thank you, Captain," Captain Greenbough said. "I will inform my government and the Founder. She seems to be rather eager to return to the _Enterprise._ She said that she was very impressed with the way she was treated."

"Thank you, Captain," Jean-Luc said. "In the meantime, why don't you coordinate with Commander Greenbough to make plans. Admiral t'Rllallieu informs me that Ambassador Griffin's ship will arrive at the station shortly. We can make plans to get underway when she and the Founder are aboard."

"Again, thank you Captain Picard," the man stood and nodded to his brother. "Commander, I am at your convenience."

Commander Greenbough nodded and stood. "If you'll follow me, we can discuss this in my office."

Picard waited until the men had left and then turned to the remainder of his command crew and asked. "What do you think?"

"I think there is more going on here than we are aware of, Captain," Commander Tuvok said.

"Obviously Commander," Dr. Seizemore said. "The question is who's trying to hide what."

"What kind of threat do you think the Founder offers to the ship?" Picard asked.

"I am unsure, but she will have much more diplomatic leeway this time," Tuvok said. "I would suggest that sensitive areas of the ship be locked down and accessed only through a genetic scan."

"Picard nodded and said, "Make it so."

As she awaited alongside Captain Picard, Commander Greenbough, and Doctor Crusher in the _Enterprise's_ main shuttlebay for the arrival of Lady Tethys Griffin and her husband, a small part of T'Lear's mind was going over the last night's dinner with Commander Greenbough and Lieutenant Windham. She'd found the dinner conversation to be both stimulating, and refreshing in its frankness. Both men were willing to discuss issues with a brutal honesty that said much about they way the practiced C'thia.

The Commander had gone out of his way to prepare individual dishes for each of them meeting their individual dietary requirements and preferences without making excuses or accepting criticism out of deference. She found it refreshing to have someone enjoy their meal of steak or fish or whatever they might prefer without making excuses to the Vulcan at the table. Too many humans were willing to give up their own preferences or even requirements in order not to offend the Vulcan, and far too many Vulcans were willing to allow them to do it, and in their own inaction not living up to the highest precepts of IDIC.

Her own vegetable pilaf was extraordinarily good and the seasonings reminded her of a small restaurant in Shir'khar where she'd spent many an evening with various off-worlder students at the Science Academy. Lieutenant Windham had seemed to enjoy the Beef Wellington that the Commander had served him, and it was clear that the big Executive Officer had relished the rare steak he himself consumed. After their meal, they'd talked about a great many subjects until deep into the night, and it was late before she returned to he own quarters; her mind a swirling mass of possibilities and options. She'd only just managed to finish her meditations before it was time to come on shift. She still had many things to consider in her next session, and a letter to send home.

Letter writing was a habit she'd picked up from her mother, who claimed that she'd picked it up from her father's mother, the Lady Amanda. She found it to be relaxing form of meditation in itself, and she preferred to do it the old-fashioned way with actual pen and paper. She'd found the fine muscle control involved in various forms of calligraphy to be as much a physical art as a visual one. Her Father had once suggested that her script was far superior to her mother's which led to a brief discussion of the difficulties he'd had in teaching her to write. T'Lear knew that her father was unique among Vulcans in that he'd actually had the opportunity to raise the woman who would become his wife, Saavik.

The boatswain's whistle that indicated the arrival of the shuttle pulled her from her reverie as she watched the _Leif Erikson_ set itself down on the deck of the bay. Again, Guinan had suggested that a shuttle named for the first European to discover America would be appropriate for the conducting the ambassador tot he _Enterprise_. As the hatch cycled and the tall woman stepped down, T'Lear was struck by the shocking white hair that was pulled back into a functional bun. It literally seemed to glow in the subdued lighting of the landing deck. She wore a diaphanous gown of transparent blue over a functional midnight blue body suit. The whole effect seemed to make her appear to glow.

Her husband was a tall well-built middle aged blond man with a strong jaw and classical good looks. He reminded T'Lear of two-d images she'd seen of a popular actor who'd portrayed one of the characters in the film adaptatin of Hale's Split Empire novel- Daniel Craig. He smiled as he looked around the landing bay and then followed his wife. After him came a huge woman standing at least two meters tall with long brassy red hair pulled back into a pony-tail. She was wearing the forest green and black of the Imperial Ground Forces.

"Welcome to the _Enterprise_, Lady Griffin. I am Captain Jean-Luc Picard. This is my Executive Officer, Commander Robin Greenbough, my Chief Medical Officer, Doctor Beverly Crusher, and Ensign T'Lear," Captain Picard said holding out his hand for the woman.

She took it and said, "Thank you, Captain. This is my husband, Bridger, and my security adviser, Colonel Gates Murphy. Thank you kindly for your hospitality and also for agreeing to help us out with the situation with the Founder."

"Would it have not been easier to simply have the Founder arrive on Thule Prime in their own ship?" Doctor Crusher asked.

"Yes and no," Lady Tethys said. Since they can become inanimate as well as copies of other living beings, one can never be sure what spies may or may not have infiltrated themselves onto the homeworld," Colonel Murphy said.

"If you are going to make peace happen, eventually, you'll have to trust them, allow them to open an Embassy," Captain Picard said.

"Perhaps," Lady Tethys replied, "But for now, let's not purchase the lifters before we've decided on the frame." Then she turned and looked directly at T'Lear and said, "You must be the young lady that Uncle Stefan has spoken so highly of in his reports. He did not do your beauty justice."

Captain Picard raised an eyebrow at the comment but said nothing. "Ensign T'Lear will be your guide while aboard the _Enterprise._ She has a strong background in anthropology, sociology, and political science so she should be able to be of great assistance."

"Thank you, Captain Picard," the woman said. "I am most appreciative."

"Uncle Stefan?" Commander Greenbough asked. "You are related to Lieutenant Windham?"

She nodded and said, "Yes, he's my uncle- my much younger uncle."

T'Lear raised an eyebrow at Commander Greenbough's surprise. She'd come to expect almost anything from this Empire. Actually, the general functioning of the families and the political processes described by Lieutenant Windham reminded her a great deal of the Vulcan clan system. She anticipated that the Captain had reached the same conclusion.

"Captain, I would like to confer with your chief security to discuss the details of the Ambassador's schedule," Colonel Murphy said.

"Of course, Colonel. You will want to speak with Commander Tuvok. I will have him stop by your quarters when you get settled in," Captain Picard said.

Colonel Murphy nodded and said, "Thank you, Captain. I know that you have a ship to run, and that the added measures of having diplomats from two possibly hostile governments on board can be trying. I will try to make as little nuisance of myself as possible."

Picard smiled and said, "It's all in the job description, Colonel. I understand your concerns."

She gave him a look that made T'Lear wonder if the captain really did understand the security concerns of the Transentient Empire or not. Still she would do her duty and carry out the tasks assigned to her by her commanding officer.

"Lady Tethys, if you are feeling up to it, we have a formal dinner planned this evening at nineteen hundred, ship's time."

She stopped and seemed to consider the question. Finally nodding her head, she said, "Very well, Captain. I look forward to it." Then to everyone's surprise she turned to T'Lear and said, "If you don't mind then, Ensign. I would like to see our quarters first so that I can update my itinerary, and then we can go from there. I would like to see as much of the ship as you are cleared to show me, as well as get your impressions of how things are going."

T'Lear spent the next hour showing the Ambassador and her husband around the various areas of the ship, and described the areas that were to made available to them. To T'Lear, the woman seemed to be both reasonable and very much restrained; in many ways reminding her of her own grandmother even though she appeared to be only in her mid thirties. "So Ensign, Stefan tells me that you have been very helpful in helping him prepare his reports to the Imperial Diplomatic Corps, and that you actually went aboard the _Thunderbird_. What is your impression of the Empire?"

T'Lear raised an eyebrow and said, "From what I've seen of it, you have a thriving functional society that seeks to protect those who cannot protect themselves, improve the condition of its citizens via encouraging public discourse and involvement. You also seem to be very aware of your need to preserve your own culture. At this point I lack a great deal of data that would be required to warrant much more of an opinion. I am impressed with the openess of your citizens and how they interact with strangers. In many ways it reminds me of Vulcan, where traditionally a stranger is welcome, but the neighbor with whom you compete with water and other resources on a regular basis is always given a wary eye. Your people seem to practice the Vulcan concept of C'thia rather assiduously."

Lady Tethys smiled at her, "Reality-truth, huh?"

"That is one definition of the word," T'Lear replied.

"My people got a bellyfull of political correctness during the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. We look life in the face and call things the way we see them. It's not always polite, it's not always pretty, but it's definitely honest." Lady Tethys said.

T'Lear nodded and realized that this was the very thing she was just admiring about her dinner companions las night. "Do you require anything before this evening's dinner?"

Lady Tethys smiled and said, "Captain Picard said formal dinner. I assume that means dress uniform or coat and black tie?"

"Black tie?" T'Lear asked.

"An old Earth custom, that evidently survived in the Empire if not on Earth. We will dress formally for our culture and wing it from there."

"Murphy is not going to be happy. That means dress blues for her," Bridger said.

"She'll cope," Tethys said.

"As will we all," Bridger replied with a slight smile.

Beverly watched the gathering around the table as the Captain made his opening remarks. It was the usual diplomatic fluff about communication, and cultural exchanges that accompanied every formal diplomatic dinner she'd ever attended on a Starfleet vessel. She was very interested in how the Imperial officers reacted to dining with a Founder. There were some very interesting displays of body language going on.

As the meal progressed she noted that all participants were acting genuinely curious about each other. The Founder, Varin was exceedingly polite and attentive to everything that was being said about both the Federation and the Empire.

"Do you think that if we are able to forge an alliance that there are likely to be exchanges between Starfleet and the Imperial Navy?" Commander LaForge asked. "I would be very much interested in studying some of your construction techniques. What I saw on the Babylon Station was very intriguing."

"I am unsure, Captain Greenbough replied. "I think that many of my officers and crew would be disqualified from service in Starfleet due to certain genetic enhancements. And I think that many of them would not see too much of an advantage to such an exchange."

"I understand about the genetic enhancement part," Geordi said. "But I don't understand the last part. Why wouldn't they want an opportunity to learn about other cultures?"

"It's not from a lack of a desire to learn about other cultures. It is from not seeing any benefit from such an exchange," Commander said. "We may make treaty with the Federation, we may make peace with the Dominion, but we look at both cultures with the same wary eye."

"You see the Federation and the Dominion as similar?" the Founder asked.

Lady Tethys nodded and said, "Yes. To us you are simply a reflection of each other."

"I don't understand," Captain Picard said.

"The Dominion seeks to control all other species out some hurt they received at the hands of others sometime in the distant past. This is something we have in common with them. We've both been hurt. The Founders by what they call solids, and us by what we consider baselines. The difference is in our approach to handling that hurt. We have withdrawn into ourselves and seek our own destinies among the stars; not imposing our will on others and not letting them impose theirs on us. They seek to control as much of the galaxy as they can by absorbing it into their government.. We do not wish to control others, but simply to be left alone, and maybe trade. The Founders have said it themselves: what you control cannot hurt you. That is not something we believe."

"Perhaps we do have more in common than we thought," Varin said. "We can at least appreciate how you were treated by the humans of Earth. Perhaps our approach to dealing with you was wrong. Perhaps we were wrong in trying to absorb you."

"Therein lies the mistake. You see, Ambassador Varin, we have experience with your kind of absorbsion in Earth's past, and it is still on a smaller scale reflected in the modern Federation; hence our distrust of them as well."

"I don't understand," Captain Picard said. "We're an open society that respects all cultures as equal and the right of people to have their own cultural differences."

"And therein lies our difficulties with the Federation, Captain," Lady Tethys said. "In the late twentieth and early twenty-first century there was a religion. It professed that the whole world had to be converted to follow it, become their slaves, or be killed. These people strapped bombs to themselves and blew up university cafeterias, they blew up school buses full of children, they flew airplanes into buildings, and they cut off reporters heads in the name of their religion and their God. They stoned women to death for the crime of being raped, and they hung teenage boys for loving their own gender. But the so-called enlightened people said we couldn't criticize them; said that they had a right to their culture, and that it was equally valid to mine which treated women as equal, that did not seek to convert by the sword, and did allowed people to love whom they loved. If we criticized them, we were told that we racists, haters, and that hate was the disease that had to be wiped out. It sought cultural suicide instead of cultural defense. I see much the same thing going on in the Federation today."

She smiled and turned to Ambassador Varin and said, "And we see the Dominion as being the twenty-fourth century equivalent to Islam. You tell us to either join you, become your slaves, or be wiped out by you. In the meantime the Federation looks at you and says to itself that you have a right to your culture." She shrugged and sipped her wine before saying, "We say that you both are wrong. We don't really care what you do within your own borders. You have a right to do as you wish inside those borders, but don't try to force it onto us, and don't try to tell us that you are our moral equals. We disagree vehemently."

"But you interfered in our invasion of the Federation," Varin said.

"No, we interfered in your invasion of Earth, our planet of origin. Many of us still have fond memories of Earth," Captain Greenbough said. "Many, like Lady Tethys have mixed in with those fond memories, a sense of dread as a result of the hatred they faced there. My mother and father both faced those Islamic terrorist, as well as the UN Augments like Khan Noonien Singh. We won't let Earth fall," Captain Greenbough said.

Lady Tethys smiled and said, "Actually, the Captain is being modest. His father met Singh once. Knocked him through a bulkhead and threatened to rip his head off and use it as a chamber pot, if he ever touched Lady Greenbough again. Singh was a bully of the worst sort. Had we known that he was on Ceti Alpha Five, we would have sterilized the planet long before the _Reliant_ ever found it."

"That's rather harsh isn't it," Beverly said.

"Not really," Lady Tethys said. "The man was responsible for hundreds of thousands of deaths on the Indian Subcontinent. Later he was responsible for the death of Captain Spock, Cadet Preston, and many other_ Enterprise_ crew members as well as Captain Terrell of the _Reliant_. He was also the cause of the near destruction of _Enterprise_. I think we could have saved a lot of people a lot of grief had we known that."

"Still I find it interesting that you see the Federation and Dominion in the same light," Varin said.

"You are simply a reflection of them. I won't say a dark reflection, because you are at least honest about your intentions, perhaps a more aggressive reflection is more accurate," Lady Tethys said.

"I'm not sure I'm comfortable with that comparison," Beverly finally said. "We don't conquer people to make them part of the Federation."

"No you don't, but you spread a collectivist philosophy wherever you go. You preach tolerance, understanding, and diversity, but you spread sameness, and do not respect diversity of thought. You weaken the strong instead of strengthening the weak. It is not our way."

Before anyone could reply, the ship's computer started blaring, "_**Red Alert!**_" The ship suddenly shuddered under what seemed like disruptor fire.


	14. The Omega Directive

Legacy of Force: The Omega Directive

Commander Tuvok felt the _Enterprise_ lurch under what felt like disruptor fire. He quickly headed for the door behind his captain wondering briefly what could be attacking them, Commander Seizemore, Doctors Jarn and Crusher, Captain Greenbough as well as the Founder and the Imperial delegation were all close behind them. Captain Picard hit the com-badge on his tunic and demanded, "Bridge, this is the Captain, what's going on up there?" The whole party headed toward the doors of the lounge.

"Desalle Three Ensign,!" Commander Greenbough's voice barked an order. "Unknown ship simply appeared out of nowhere and started firing on us and the _Midgarth's Warder_, sir! Both the unknown vessel and the _Warder_ are launching fighters...," suddenly the ship rocked hard to starboard, and there was a trembling throughout her hull.

"Sir, that blast punched right through our port shield. We've got hull breaches on decks six through nine on the secondary hull," Ensign T'Lear said. "Structural Integrity Fields are at twenty-nine percent."

"Keep my ship in one piece, Mister!" Picard commanded Greenbough over the com.

"Aye sir," he answered. "Implementing "keep your ship in one piece maneuver now, sir."

Picard looked over at the Thulian captain, and asked. "Any idea who our attackers are?"

The tall red-bearded man shook his head and said, "No, we're deep in Imperial space. We _should_ be safe." He stopped and touched his own collar and said, "Greenbough here." Silence followed as the captain seemed to listen to something only he could hear. Tuvok wondered if imperial officers had sub-skeletal implants or if he was simply accessing the imperial psionic network. The fact that he was vocalizing suggested the former possibility. "Open me a door, Commander Murphy. I'm coming over." Turning back to Tuvok and Picard he said, "Captain Picard, I must return to my own ship."

"I'm sorry Captain Greenbough but we can't lower our shields to let you beam over," Captain Picard tld him.

Greenbough smiled and replied, "No need captain. Our transport system doesn't work on the same principle as your transporters. We can get there without placing the _Enterprise _in any more danger than she already is."

Picard nodded and said, "Very well, Captain. Good luck."

The big man stopped and gave Captain Picard a very strange look. "You'd better keep your luck, Captain. I think you need it more than we. But I appreciate the thought. May your actions be be bold and carry you through this battle."

Suddenly, the air in the passageway split and a hole opened up revealing the interior of the _Midgarth's Warder's _Command and Control center. A tall, broad, dark-haired man was sitting in a swivelling chair. He turned to face the hole himself and said, "Any day now captain. The aliens are preparing a straffing run on the _Enterprise. _I don't know who the Federation helmsman is, but he's either mad or a genius, or both."

"On my way, Commander. I hope your husband has those fighter upgrades completed," Captain Greenbough said as he stepped through the hole which closed behind him immediately.

"Who is currently at Flight Control Ops?" Picard asked.

"Ensign T'Lear," Tuvok told him.

"Why am I not surprised, Commander?" Picard asked as they headed toward the lift, Commander Seizemore and Counselor Jarn in tow. Suddenly the ship shook violently from side to side. Tuvok found himself slamming into the bukhead to his left, then ricocheting off the ceiling, and finally landing hard on his legs back on the deck. Looking over, he saw the Captain bouncing down the passageway before lying very still. Doctor Crusher dashed forward to check the Captain's status. He appeared to be unconscious.

"Take care of the Captain, Doctor. I'm going to the bridge to see if Commander Greenbough needs my assistance," Tuvok told her.

"I'm with you, Commander," Commander Seizemore replied.

He looked at her, his mind racing through her possible assistance on the bridge. She was after all the designer of the transwarp engines. She might be of help after all. After considering all possibilities, he said, "Come along, then Commander, and you too, Doctor Jarn. The rest of you would be better served joining Doctor Crusher in sickbay." He then hurried toward the lft.

Twenty eight point nine seconds later the lift doors opened to deposit them onto the bridge. He looked up at the main view screen to see the starfield pitching and rolling as if it were spiraling out of control. However the steady whine of phaser fire, and the occasionally lurch from the torpedo tubes told him that the there was a method to the madness of their course. He quickly headed to his station and unlocked the console. The tactical readout that appeared showed the _Enterprise _being harrassed by a dozen fighter sized ships. Ensign T'Lear had her pitching and rolling three hundred sixty degrees on all axis. Every time her fingers touched the firing controls, another fighter blossomed into a expanding field of gas and fire. The damage control readout showed several major hits at the aft section of the secondary hull, and one that had punched all the way through the interconnecting mechanism just behind the saucer section.

As the last fighter winked out of existence, Commander Greenbough turned and asked, "Where's the captain?"

"In sickbay by now, I would assume. He was injured in that last hit. For now, you have the con, Commander. I sent the delegates there as well. Captain Greenbough has returned to his ship."

The other officer simply nodded, and his eyes narrowed. Turning back to screen he commanded grimly, "Tactical report!"

"We are currently free of hostile fighters. Most of them have broken off to engage those from the _Midgarth's Warder_," Ensign T'Lear said. "The main craft is powering up weapons to fire on us again."

"Bring us around one eighty mark three. Divert power from aft shields by fifty percent, and use it to reinforce the SIFs of the hulled sections. Let's give them as small a cross section as possible to hit."

"What do you have in mind, Commander?" Tuvok asked.

"Back before the integrated phaser arrays were developed, starships used paired banks of phasers on the dorsal and ventral saucer sections. When she was in command of the Constellation Two, Admiral Shir Khar developed a maneuver to destroy a Klingon wolf pack with a single pass that would take advantage of the fact that a ship could charge both circuits, but only fire one of them. I'm adapting the idea to our integrated phaser array circuits." He looked over at the flight control station and asked. "Do you have the flight parameters Ensign?"

"Aye, sir," the young woman said a little too enthusiastically for Tuvok's comfort.

"The Captain ordered you to keep his ship in one piece, Commander," Tuvok said.

"And I am, Commander. We are deep in Imperial space and are facing an enemy that is faster than us, and has us out-gunned. Our aft SIFs are compromised. If we run, they'll catch us and destroy us. If we stay and fight and- fight smart- we may actually come out of this alive. Running is not an option."

"You could try talking to them, Commander," Tuvok said.

"First I have to get them to stop shooting at us, Commander," Greenbough said. He turned back to Ensign T'Lear and said, "Implement, Shir' Khar ten."

Tuvok could hear a slight shift in the whine of the ships engines. He watched his tactical read out as the _Enterprise _closed with the alien vessel, her phasers lancing out to strike the forward section of the vessel that looked like a giant fluke with a starfish mouth. It was over two and half kilometers long, and trying to turn so that it could bring its considerable array of broadside disruptors to bear on the _Enterprise. _Ensign T'Lear compensated for the shift in position as they bore down on her.

"We're through their shields, Commander," T'lear said.

"Maintain fire, Ensign," Commander Greenbough said. "Up and over."

"Aye, sir," T'lear acknowledged.

Tuvok watched as Enterprise rose on the y axis until it was above the alien vessel. As the great starship rose, the flight control officer tipped the aft section higher until she was flying dorsal first keeping the _Enterprise's_ bow facing the alien craft, her forward phasers pouring devastating fire from both the ventral and dorsal sides of the primary hull into the enemy. Tuvok noted the charge on the weapons slowly deplete. When they reached fifty-one percent, the Ensign switched over to quantum torpedoes and set off a volley every three point two seconds as they raked along the dorsal section of the attacking craft. By the time they reached the aft section, the torpedoes had stopped exploding against the enemy's shields and were now wreaking havoc on its hull while the phasers circuits recharged. As they cleared the aft section, the Ensign T'Lear rolled the ship a hundred eighty degrees, and switched back over to phasers, continuing to fire into the aft engine section of the alien vessel.

Tuvok noted that Imperial fighters suddenly swarmed in on the hull of the attacking vessel and their configurations began to change. They ceased to be fighter craft and became anthropomorphic exoskeletal armor of a huge stature. With their new limbs they began to tear into the hull of the alien craft in a boarding action like he'd never seen before.

"Take us back three thousand clicks," Commander Greenbough ordered.

"Why?" Tuvok

"Because I don't want to fire on an ally by mistake," Greenbough said.

"They're locking weapons on us, sir. I'm getting a strange energy build-up, Commander," T'Lear said. "I don't recognize the siguature.

"Take us back ten thousand kilometers. Prepare to go to go to warp four," Commander Greenbough commanded.

"Aye, sir," T'Lear said.

Tuvok watched at the _Enterprise_ backed away from the huge ship. He looked down at the energy signature coming from the vessel, and his hot Vulcan blood ran cold. Then the monitor winked out to be replaced by a single image on the screen. The Greek letter Omega.

"Captain, all ship's functions have been locked out. Transwarp engines are off line, shields are dropping., subspace communications are shut out."

"What in the name of Hel's dark half just happened?"

"Unknown, sir," T'Lear said. "All bridge stations are locked down."

A series of explosions rocked the ship. The lights switched to emergency lighting and there was the smell of an electrical fire somewhere on the bridge. "Status!" Greenbough demanded.

"Unknown sir. We are blind and helpless," T'Lear.

Tuvok hit his com-badge and said, "Tuvok to sickbay."

"Sickbay," Doctor Crusher answered.

"What is the Captain's status?" he asked.

"Unconscious Commander," she said. "He has subdural bleeding and I'm going to have to operate."

"Most unfortunate, Doctor," Tuvok said.

"What do you mean we're locked out of all stations?" Commander Greenbough demanded, of Commander Seizemore.

She looked at him and said, "There is something overriding all higher warp functions, Commander," she said. "I don't know what it is, but it seems to be in the computer system itself. I'll see what I can do to get around it."

"A vain attempt, Commander," Tuvok said. "The system will not unlock until Captain Picard can come to the bridge and enter his personal command cyphers."

Commander Greenbough turned to face him and said, "And you know this how?"

"We had a similar situation like this aboard the Voyager, Commander. It is a subroutine installed by Starfleet to deal with an emergency of proportions that affect all galactic civilizations."

"Commander," Doctor Jarn said, "Captain Greenbough on the _Midgarth Warder_ wants to know, and I quote, What the hell do you think you're doing?, sir. He says that he can't fire on the enemy vessel with us in the blast range, with no shields."

Commander Greenbough nodded and said, "Describe our situation to him. Tell him we're working on it."

"Aye sir," he said.

Greenbough turned back to Tuvok and asked, "You mean to tell me that Starfleet installed on this vessel a subroutine that would override all our higher functions in the middle of a battle?"

Tuvok nodded wondering at the man's incredulity. "Affirmative."

He turned to Commander Seizemore, "Do what you can to get around it. I need some kind of access to the ship's system if I'm going to get us out of this situation. Right now, we're just waiting for whatever that weapon they were charging to hit us."

"I am aware of our situation, Commander," Tuvok said stoically.

"Then I suggest you aid Commander Seizemore in finding a way around the subroutine," Greenbough told him.

Tuvok raised an eyebrow. He recognized an order when he heard one, whether it was phrased as a suggestion or not. He strode over to the console under which the small red-head lay. "Do you require any assistance, Commander?"

"Yeah," she said. "Hand me that probe on the floor," her voice said from under the console.

"Commander, Captain of the _Warder_ wants to inform you that he's going to have the _Enterprise _towed to safety, while he engages the enemy. He says, to tell you that you're still a slacker."

"Tell him...," Commander Greenbough's tone became hard for a moment. Then he straightened his tunic. Then in a much calmer tone he said, "Tell my brother that I appreciate the assist."

"Aye sir," Doctor Jarn said quietly.

Tuvok assisted Commander Seizemore for almost an hour as she ran down several routines through the ship's computer. Finally, she tapped into the the holodeck's sub routines and did something that Tuvok was unsure as to exactly what it was, but suspected it was highly illegal. Smiling over to the com, she said, "Commander, you should have all functions restored in twenty seconds."

"How did you do that?" Tuvok asked.

"I could tell you Commander, but then I'd have to kill you," she said with a smile. Then as she pulled herself out from under the console she said, "I hacked Captain Picard's personal command cyphers and then used the holdoeck recordings to enter them into the computer directly. I then purged the whole damn subroutine, and plan on kicking several people's asses when I get back to San Fran."

"You hacked the Captain's cyphers?" he asked incredulously.

"I did," she said.

"I'm afraid I'll have to place you under arrest for that, Commander," he said.

She gave him a long stare and said. However, before she could reply, Commander Greenbough said, "Belay, that Commander. She did what I told her to do. If you want to press charges, do it later when the Captain is back where he belongs. Until then, I need her and you here."

All the station monitors went blank and then rebooted with complete access. A small cheer went up through the bridge crew. As the main view screen came back online, all signs of the battle were gone. The _Midgarth's Warder's _ ventral hull was up close to the Enterprise and they were in orbit around a blue green planet. "What in the name of Sif's golden locks has happened while we were blind?"

"Commander, Captain Greenbough is hailing us," T'Lear said.

"Put him on," Commander Greenbough said.

The screen wavered to show the Command and Control Center on the _Warder_. Captain Greenbough said, "Welcome to Thule Prime. I trust you've gotten your little problem worked out."


	15. Chapter 15 Udates

Legacy of Force Chapter 15

Jean-Luc awoke with Beverly hovering over him and wondering what in the world was going on. He sat up and looked around the the overcrowded medical ward. "Why am I in sickbay, Doctor?" he quietly demanded, his voice dropping an octave or so to stress his concern.

"The ship was attacked. You were heading to the bridge when we were hit hard, and the inertia dampeners temporarily gave way. You bounced head first off the overhead," she said. "Then all the ship's systems went off-line and every computer terminal onboard locked down."

That was starting to sound disturbingly like something he did not want to contemplate. He looked around and saw that the computers in sickbay were up and running normally, so he doubted seriously that an Omega event had occurred. "What's the ship's status?"

"Doctor Seizemore hacked the ship's computers and brought them back online. Commanders Tuvok and Greenbough are in disagreement over whether or not to bring Doctor Seizemore up on charges for hacking your personal files," she told him as she helped him sit up on the bed. "How do you feel?"

"Like I just fought a Klingon," he said shaking his head and regretting it. "What do you mean hacking my personal files?" he asked.

"She hacked your personal command ciphers to bypass something called the Omega Directive. Commander Tuvok wants to bring her up on charges. He says that he knows what an omega event is and that her actions pose a serious threat to Federation security. Commander Greenbough is insisting on waiting until you have recovered before taking any actions and leaving the decision up to you. He believes there are extenuating circumstances." Beverly's tone caught Jean-Luc's attention. It suggested that she agreed with the first officer.

"What kind of extenuating circumstances?" he asked.

"The ship was in the middle of pitched battle when everything shut down. The only thing that we could get on any computer console was the Greek letter omega. The last tactical data that the bridge had was the invading ship- which the ship's computers have now identified as Hu'rq, by the way, was charging some kind of super-weapon that would blast us into our component atoms. Suddenly the this Omega Directive kicked in and shut down everything. Commander Greenbough ordered Doctor Seizemore to find a way around it. She did by hacking your command cyphers."

"Ships status?" he asked suddenly feeling his blood run cold. That was not something Starfleet had not considered when it implemented the Omega Directive: what would happen if it went into action in the middle of a battle. It was poor planning on their part.

"We are currently in orbit around Thule Prime, and Geordi is overseeing repairs to both our primary and secondary hulls. From what I hear, the Hur'q hit us pretty good. I have more casualties than I can handle- the _Midgarth's Warder _is helping with the overflow."

"How did we get to Thule Prime?" he asked.

"I don't know. I'm not the flight control officer, I'm just the doctor. Talk to Commander Greenbough. I'm sure he'd be glad to hand the whole mess back over to you," she said with a smile.

"What's my status?" he asked wondering why she was so willing to let him out of sickbay.

"Recovering. I'd like to keep you here for a few more days of observation, but to be honest, I don't have the space. You had some serious bleeding in the lining around your brain, but that's been repaired. For now, I'd say just don't try to overdo it. Let Commander Greenbough handle as much you can. He's been doing as good a job as Will ever did. He doesn't do things the same way, but he gets it done," she told him with a slight tone of admiration. That was high praise coming from Beverly.

He sighed and endured the thorough examination from Doctor Crusher as she checked him for signs of neurological or memory degradation from the blow to the head or the surgery. While submitting to the examination, he asked, "What is the status of the peace negotiations?"

She looked over at him and said, "For that, you have to thank Commander Greenbough and Prince Stefan. They managed to convince all three governments to put the negotiations be put on hold until you've recovered. Furthermore, the Empire and the Dominion are suggesting that under the threat of the Hur'q invasion to extend and invitation to the other Alpha Quadrant Powers to open diplomatic negotiations."

That could be both beneficial and a problem. The negotiations were supposed to be initially based on the Empire's history with Earth. Their war with the Dominion and request for the Federation to negotiate an honorable peace has complicated that. Now add in the other Alpha Quandrant Powers, powers that were only recently at war with each other and the goal of peaceful contact and exchange was starting to fade into a fog. He had a lot to consider before he dealt with the negotiations.

Finally, an hour later, she released him from sickbay and he made his way to the bridge.

What he found there was both impressive and worrisome. First off, the entire crew was working feverishly to get as much of the repairs done as possible as they orbited the blue and white world below. The bridge was the usual efficient scene of controlled chaos as that was to be expected during such repair work. But there was also a tension on the bridge to which he was unaccustomed, and he was under the impression it came from the disagreement between his first officer and his Chief of Security.

"Captain on the bridge!" the security officer at the lift entrance called as he stepped out.

Commander Greenbough stood to attention and awaited acknowledgement. "As you were," he said as he stepped down to main command deck. "What's our status, Num... Commander Greenbough?"

The big man turned and smiled at him, "We are currently orbiting Thule Prime. Evidently while we were trying to get control of the _Enterprise_ back from the computers, the _Midgarth Warder _dealt with the Hur'q and brought us here. Repairs to the damaged aft section of the secondary hull are being carried out by our chief engineer. He informs me that there is considerable structural damage to the support pylons for the engines and he is rigging a temporary solution in the form of a cross-bar between them. Damage to the main saucer section was significant, and we took several direct hits between the leading edge of the vessel and the phaser array. We currently have the ship's replicators working at maximum output in order to affect repairs. Our structural integrity fields are damaged as are our inertial dampeners."

"Exactly what did they hit us with?" Picard asked.

Commander Greenbough nodded to Commander Tuvok. Tuvok stepped forward and said, "It would appear that they were using a modified disruptor that was accelerated through a warp field. As it existed in both real space and subspace it passed directly through our shields with devastating effect."

Picard nodding wondering what was the source of tension on the bridge. He said, "I want both of your reports on my desk by the end of shift."

Commander Greenbough nodded and picked up a padd. He touched a few keys and said, "Done sir."

Picard stopped and looked at the big man, "I want to see you in my ready room now, Mr. Greenbough."

Greenbough turned to Tuvok and said, "You have the bridge." He then followed Picard into the ready room.

Picard sat down at his desk and asked, "Were you trying to be humorous, Commander?"

"No sir," Greenbough said.

"Then how is it that you can have your report completed and ready with a few strokes of on a padd? I want a report that is up to date as of the point I took the bridge," Picard told him.

"Done sir," Greenbough said. "If you'll check your desk computer."

Picard looked down at the computer and called up the report. He skimmed through it and found that it seemed to be in order. This was the kind of report that took quite a while to compile. Finally, he looked up Do you always anticipate orders in this manner, Commander?"

"I make it a policy to keep reports as up to date as possible sir," he said.

"How long have you been on duty, Commander?" he asked.

"I haven't left the bridge since the battle, sir," he said.

"That was three days ago, Commander," Picard told him.

"One of the side effects of my enhancements," he said the word as if trying for the first time, "seems to be an increased endurance level. I haven't felt the need for rest or sleep. The report has been maintained and updated hourly with department head's estimations as they came in."

Picard sighed and wondered briefly what it would be like to be able to stay on a task for several days. He also suspected that Greenbough was attempting to out-Vulcan the Vuclan. "I understand there is a disagreement between you and Commander Tuvok over the disposition of Doctor Seizemore."

"Yes sir," Greenbough said.

"What does it concern?" Picard asked.

"I would prefer for discussions of a professional matter be done with the person being discussed present, sir," he replied.

"I don't understand," Picard said.

"I would rather to discuss the nature of the disagreement with both Commander Tuvok and with Doctor Seizemore present," he said. "That retains a certain level of objectivity in the process, sir."

Picard nodded, "Let's simply make it understood that you wouldn't say anything about either officer here that you wouldn't say in front of them," Picard said rubbing the back of his head.

"Yes sir," Greenbough replied. "When the Omega Directive shut down the ship, I ordered Doctor Seizemore to find a way around it. We had just completed an attack run on the Hur'q ship and were attempting to back out of range of their mega-weapon when the whole computer shut down. We had no communications, no shields, no sensors, no impulse or star drive and no weapons, and there was a furball of fighters all around us. I take full responsibility for the doctor's actions."

"You cannot order another officer to break the law, Commander," Picard told him.

"Aye, sir. But I ordered her specifically to get around it, to circumnavigate a block that Commander Tuvok informed me that was placed there by Starfleet," Commander Greenbough said. "The doctor was under the duress of battle, and followed my orders implicitly."

Picard nodded and called up the bridge recorders and watched the events coming up to the battle and then afterwards as the Commander stood at ease. He looked up and said, "Sit down Commander. This could take a while."

The commander nodded and took a seat as he waited for Jean-Luc to watch the readout, to study the doctor's actions, and those of the rest of the bridge crew. He then called up Tuvok's report on the incident and the arrest warrant for both the first officer and Commander Seizemore. He touched the control on his desk and said, "Commander Tuvok, Commander Seizemore, would you please join me in my ready room?"

A moment later the Vulcan security officer entered the ready room and stood. Picard gestured toward the seat next to Commander Greenbough and said, "I've reviewed the bridge log as well as both of your reports. I'm reminded of an answer that Captain Kirk once gave to his first officer when Commander Spock pointed out to him that striking a fellow officer is court martial offence. If we're both in the brig, then who's going to build the sonic disruptor? The captain's answer is at the heart of this matter. What Commander Greenbough ordered the doctor to do was to circumvent a Starfleet order of which he was unaware. What the doctor did was break the ship's computer security, something that is supposed to be impossible. However, those actions very possibly saved the ship. I cannot fault Starfleet officers for lateral thinking in order to save their ship and the lives of their crew."

"Neither Captain Kirk, nor Captain Spock are well known for their adherence to Starfleet Regulations, Captain Picard. The Omega Directive is numbered as General Order Zero because it supersedes even the Prime Directive- an order that starship captains are instructed to sacrifice their lives and their ships to avoid breaking."

Commander Greenbough turned to face Commaner Tuvok and asked, "Am I to understand that I am expected to allow a ship and crew under my command perish because of an order I know nothing about?"

"It is an unfortunate situation, but it _is_ the law, Commander," Tuvok said.

Jean-Luc sat back and listened to the exchange. Before he could interrupt the door chimed and he said, "Enter."

Commander Seizemore entered the room and looked around. She was wearing a duty coverall and she had the appearance of someone who'd just been pulled out of a Jeffries tube. "You wanted to see me captain?" she said.

Jean-Luc nodded and said, "Please sit down, Commander. I was going over the reports and the bridge recorders involving the incident with the Hur'q attack. Commanders Tuvok and Greenboug are at impasse over what action to recommend."

"In other words they disagree, Captain," she said bluntly.

"That's an indelicate way to put it Commander, but essentially, yes," he told her.

"Captain Picard, I've been up to my eyeballs in repairs on the transwarp engines since that battle. Verbal and social delicacy went into the recycler after the thirty second ID relay I replaced on the starboard nacelle pylon," she told him with a sigh. "That disruptor they hit us with played hell with every piece of circuitry from nacelle to the warp core."

Picard nodded. He'd dealt with engineers in this kind of situation on many occasions. "I understand, Commander. I am curious as to how you were able to ascertain the nature of the problem and circumvent it."

She nodded and said, "When Commander Tuvok said that the only way around the situation was for you to come to the bridge and enter your command codes, I knew where to start looking. I simply called up the root programs from the main computer and started looking for the data that I needed."

"The root program is off limits to all but the authorized qualified personnel, Commander," Tuvok said.

The small woman spun on him and said, "Commander, I designed these damn engines. I built them from scratch, and I wrote the programming to allow them to interface with the _Enterprise's_ computers. I _am_ _qualified_ and I _am_ _authorized_ personnel."

"Still it is unlikely that a human programmer would have the skill to...," Commander Tuvok began.

"Human programmer?!" she interrupted him. "Are you suggesting that human computer programmers are somehow unqualified to work on starship computers? Are pointed ears and a copper based blood the minimum requirements to be a good programmer?"

"I was only pointing out that very few human minds are capable of handling that kind of information...," Tuvok began.

"Human minds? Commander Tuvok, I believe your racism is showing again," she said.

"Racism?" he asked. "It is not racism to point out that certain physiological and cultural differences give humans a distinct disadvantage in certain fields."

"Yet we still manage to persevere," Commander Seizemore said. She turned to the captain and continued, "As I said, once I knew where to to look, I was able to bypass the subroutine. If Starfleet had not left my authorization to access to the root program open so that I could tweak the programming for the new engines, I wouldn't have been able to do it. I'm sorry if this idea disturbs the Commander, but my authorization and qualifications _are_ on record."

"So you didn't technically hack the files in question?" Captain Picard asked.

The small woman smiled and leaned back. "Oh, I hacked the hell out of them Captain. Although I have access to the root program, I still had to run them through both the holodeck initializer to feed them to the ship's computer, and the sickbay's medical subroutines to get the computer to believe my electronic command was actually coming from you. But I did not access any programs I don't have clearance to access."

"What about the Omega event?" Jean-Luc wondered. He still had to deal with the fact that the use of an Omega particle still took precedence over the negotiations and the mission itself. Omega particles destroyed subspace making warp drive impossible.

"The Empire assures us that the Hur'q boronite weapon has been neutralized, and the damage to subspace that it may have caused was repaired," Commander Greenbough said.

"Repaired? How?" Jean-Luc asked.

Commander Greenbough reached into his tunic and handed Jean-Luc a data wand. "The Empire sent this over as an explanation. It is, if you will pardon the expression," he looked over at Commander Tuvok, "a rather unique solution."

"Why was this not in the report?" Jean-Luc asked.

"It is, Captain," Greenbough said. "If you'll look at the attachment negotiations, you'll find it there."

Picard called up the report and noted the attachment in question. It wasn't how he would have prioritized things, but then again, he was aware of the Omega Directive and Commander Greenbough wasn't. However, he was starting to notice something about his first officer's command style. His primary priorities tended to be on the mission as well as the safety of the ship and crew under his command. He seemed to be a throw back to another era of Starfleet officer.

Jean-Luc considered the situation. Finally he said, "I will study the situation and let you know what decision I make about this. For now, my initial reaction is to simply put it aside and consider it extraordinary measures taken in the course of a crisis to preserve the safety of the ship. Commander Tuvok, I will note your protest in the log if you wish. Until then, ladies and gentlemen, let's see what we can do about getting _Enterprise_ back into shape."


End file.
